Want to be more efficient and productive? Don’t start by asking “How can we do this better?”
Instead ask, “Should we be doing this at all?”
I recently spoke with my good friend (and wildly talented life coach) Wes Wiley about the content I was putting together on HeyPorter.com and the conversation turned to video. Wes had been crushing it with some great live Facebook videos and I think I made some lame comment about meaning to get my video content game together (did I mention I’m a director / producer? #irony).
Wes responded: “Matthew, it’s not 2017 anymore.”
Context and tone are everything, so hear me when I say that this wasn’t one friend razzing another friend; Wes was right on the money. Actually, whether he knew it or not, his words echoed the wisdom of author and management consultant Peter Drucker…
“Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.”
– Peter F. Drucker
When the game changes, so should the game plan. So yes, while we should always be “sharpening the saw” (h/t Stephen Covey), we would also be well served to occasionally take a look around. If everyone else is now using a chainsaw, maybe sharpening isn’t the best use of our time.
P.S. I promise this post will definitely (probably – maybe) get turned into a video.
– Matthew Porter
Matthew Porter writes about Decoding Success, Creative Leadership, Marketing, and Productivity.
If you enjoyed this, please subscribe, follow, comment, and share.
