Achieve Results

 

Ultimately to achieve a lot and get a lot of stuff done, you need the thing you’re trying to get done to closely match a passion of yours. Some tools and techniques can help with achieving things but I’m still a firm believer in the fact that things are more likely to get done if those things are closely aligned to your passions or interests. Assuming what you are trying to achieve is aligned with your passions/interests then you are on to a great start.

Techniques and Tools

Some techniques and tools that will help you reach your goal include organizing, delegating, planning, communicating, motivating and controlling. These are all skills that can be learned and applied to help you achieve your desired outcome.

Need For Achievement and a Sense of Accomplishment

One of the most important needs of any individual is the need for achievement. When we achieve something, we feel good, from simply putting a line through a task that you completed in the morning, to completing a large-scale project that you have been planning for the last year. It’s all achievement and it gives us all a great sense of accomplishment type feeling.

How to Achieve Results

1. Clearly define what it is that you want to achieve.
2. Monitor progress regularly.
3. Make sure most of your efforts during the day are aimed at getting you closer to your achievement.
4. Set yourself and your team demanding but not unattainable time constraints.
5. Reach out to others for help and advice when stuck or facing obstacles. Note: others don’t necessarily have to be within your team. Use social media to reach beyond your team or organization or simply ask Google for answers to a problem that may be taxing you or halting progress.
6. If others are involved communicate clearly what is expected and by when.
7. Demand high performance and quality but be wary of impacting cost and time.
8. Stick to the plan, only deviate if external circumstances demand so.
9. Show perseverance and determination to get what you planned or envisioned.
10. Only take calculated risks.
11. Constantly ask questions to ensure what you are doing is right and the most effective course of action.
12. Remain positive and lead by example.

Getting From A to B

Many of us start at A with a plan of getting to B. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen. Sometimes we start at A and end up at C. Don’t be too disheartened if this happens. Often C can still be a positive outcome and a better position than A where you started. In the world of strategy, Henry Mintzberg defined this as an emergent strategy. You start at A with a plan of getting to be but other (sometimes external) influences change your course of action. It’s good to simply sit back and reflect at this stage:

• What went well?
• What went not so well?
• What could we have done differently?
• What should we have done differently?
• What did we set out to achieve?
• How close were we to achieving what we had planned?
• Is our result a better outcome, similar, or worse?
• Are we in a better position than when we started on our path to achievement?
• How did we succeed?
• Or why did we fail?
• What have we learned or would do differently next time?

Doing so provides learning experiences and new knowledge that can assist us greatly with future goals and achievements.