Las formas de organización administrativa

The key to m apping out y our m onth is to chunk it down and do a piece at a tim e. Here is a sum m ary of the flow of steps I take to m ap out the m onth:

Step 1. Make a list of all y our outcom es. Step 2. Prioritize y our list of outcom es. Step 3. Assign outcom es to each week.

It really is that sim ple. Now, let’s walk through each step in m ore detail.

Step 1. Make a List of All Your Outcomes

Make a list of all the outcom es y ou want for the m onth. This is where windows of opportunity really m atter. Im agine if the m onth was over, what are all the things y ou would regret the m ost if y ou didn’t com plete them ? Dum p every thing y ou can think of. Let the ideas flow freely and don’t edit them in this step—j ust write them down.

Step 2. Prioritize Your List of Outcomes

In this step, y ou prioritize y our list of outcom es. At this point, y ou probably have a good sized “laundry list.” The goal for this step is to chunk up y our list of outcom es so y our highest priority item s float to the top. I recom m end chunking it up using the following priorities:

MUST SHOULD COULD

I’ve found that it helps to sim ply think in term s of MUST, SHOULD, and COULD. MUST is what y ou m ust get done, SHOULD would be nice, and COULD is j ust a pipe dream . Your MUSTs are y our next actions; they are im m ediate and obvious relative to y our SHOULDs and COULDs. I use MUST, SHOULD, and COULD because I find those term s resonate better. Alternatively, y ou could use priority 1, priority 2, and priority 3 (or p1, p2, and p3). Use what works for y ou. You know it’s working when y ou’re able to identify the m ost im portant results based on either

im pact or windows of opportunity . In fact, m issing windows of opportunity is the biggest oversight people m ake. Tim e changes what’s im portant. It can also significantly am plify the im pact of what y ou get done, or what y ou don’t get done. There’s a lot to be said for “a stitch in tim e saves nine.” When prioritizing, include estim ates taking into account the best tim e to work on specific tasks. Doing so gets y ou from good results to great.

As y ou prioritize y our list of outcom es, m ake sure to trim down y our MUSTs (or whatever equivalent label y ou’ve chosen) to no m ore than three item s. You can alway s bite off m ore after y ou com plete y our three MUSTs. Priority and focus are y our best friends. Your worst enem y is scope creep. Keep it at bay by using The Rule of 3.

Step 3. Assign Outcomes to Each Week

In this step, y ou assign the three highest priority outcom es for each week. These should work towards y our three outcom es for the m onth. Notice how y ou can zoom out to the big picture by looking at three results for the m onth, or y ou can zoom in to m ore details by looking at three results for the week. It’s this ability to zoom in and out that helps y ou see the forest from the trees and keeps y ou focused on y our best results.

In Summary

Think in term s of m onthly results.

Know the 3 m ost im portant outcom es for the m onth. Know the 3 m ost im portant outcom es for each week.

Chapter 9 – Design Your Year

In This Chapter

Figure out y our three best results for the y ear.

Learn how to create a scannable m ap of y our y ear at a glance. Learn how to design m ore effective m onths to support y our y ear.

This chapter helps y ou achieve three great results for the y ear. It also helps y ou see y our y ear at a glance, design a m ore effective y ear, and enj oy the j ourney along the way .

What if you could look back a year from now and say with confidence that you achieved the three most important changes that you could make in your life right now? This could be any thing from getting to y our ideal weight, to finding y our dream j ob, to taking an incredible j ourney. That's the idea behind focusing on three great results for the y ear. It's about having the three m ost im portant things to y ou, for the y ear, under y our belt.

I first learned to focus on three great results for the y ear by study ing goals and obj ectives. I tried to get precision and accuracy around goals, obj ectives, strategies, and tactics. When I finally got clarity, I pushed all m y thinking aside and asked a very sim ple question, “If this were next y ear, what are three great results I would want?” Without hesitation, I answered: (1) get to m y fighting weight; (2) finish m y book; and (3) take an epic adventure. (Interestingly, com pleting this chapter m eans finishing the writing for m y book.) Since it sounded alm ost too sim ple to be useful, I had to question whether this was how I was going to set m y goals for the y ear. Som ething inside m e told m e that I finally found the secret sauce for significant change. I would feel a sense of fulfillm ent if I turned the page of another y ear of m y life and found that I had achieved these three things for the y ear (or at least com e really close).

Knowing y our three great results for the y ear is one thing. Seeing y our y ear at a glance is another. The inspiration for seeing m y y ear at a glance cam e from one of m y colleagues. He was alway s calm , cool, and collected. One of his secrets was his calendar on the wall. It was a sim ple view of the y ear at a glance. He put all the key proj ect events on it, across m ultiple proj ects. He included people on the team s for their input as he m apped out the proj ect m ilestones, activities, and deliverables. Every body could easily see the m ap with the end in m ind, and how to get there. They could see and plan for holiday s. They could see when there m ight be bottlenecks or resource constraints. I thought to m y self: If this works so great for dealing with com plicated proj ects and dependencies … why not use it for life? And so, I did.