The 10 things to double down on in 2023. Episode 2: Do The Work (Part 1: The Job)

Feb 02, 2023

In the previous episode, I spoke about Focus, the different levels of Focus and the need to eliminate distractions to be able to do the work that makes you shine and rise.

In today's episode, I want to speak about Doing the Work. I will split this topic into two parts. Today is about part 1 (The Job)

What kind of work?

The objective is to Do the Work that:

· Matters

· That empowers you

· That gives you the best chance of success

In today's Change & transformation space, a lot is going on, and there are many moving parts to any program.

Your plate can get really full really quickly.

So, the question is:

What kind of work am I referring to? The kind of work you are not doing enough of? The kind of work that will take your career and impact go to the next level?

There are 3 types of work:

· Doing things

· Doing things right

· Doing the right things and doing them right

Doing things: The kind of work that adds minimal to zero value and contributes to the noise, busyness and complexity of your programs and environment.

Doing things right (but not necessarily doing the right things): This is the kind of work where people are in execution and implementation mode. In this mode: we put our blinders on and get to work. That is where most people are. This kind of work still contributes to getting things done but has limited impact on creating a difference and achieving the complete and true business outcome (though it might seem that it is).

Doing the right things, the right way: This is the most satisfying Work and the one with the most impact. Finding/Creating that kind of work is like looking for gems in a haystack.

Adapt the right mindset

Doing the right things before doing them right is a mindset everyone in Change and Transformation should adopt.

By default, Change & Transformation is about moving the needle in the right direction and creating a solid bridge to a meaningful future that moves us all forward.

We can not do that if we focus on the busyness and the immediate stuff that everyone thinks needs fixing or working on:

· We need to be different

· We need to go deep

· We need to challenge

· We need to propose

· We need to stand for something meaningful

While organisations still need projects to organise and create improvements, I ask not to call them Transformation.

Unfortunately, transformation projects have become containers of laundry lists to fix things. Obvious things.

The 2 folds to meaningful work

The 2 folds are the inner work and the job. Let's start with "The Job"

Part 1: The Job

So how do you find that purposeful and meaningful work in your day-to-day Change the Transformation programs? I would suggest considering the following:

1. Business Outcome. How clear and concise is your program's business outcome? 99% of the time (I say 99% only because I don't want to say 100%), the outcome is not clear enough and not pointing to the desired future well enough

2. Culture and dynamics sensitivity: Is your work customised to the culture and dynamics of your organisation and stakeholders, or are you using your prior experience as-is?

3. Are you 3 steps ahead? Most professionals and teams deal with things as they come or work on short-term tasks. I suggest you become 2-3 steps ahead of everyone else. A simple way to do so is to break down the outcome into smaller outcomes and then create the top 3 questions you want to answer at each step along the way. You then work backwards to see what answers you will need for those questions and design your tasks and work accordingly

4. Zoom out and Zoom in: The ability to see the big picture and the details that align with the big picture is a true skill. This skill makes you valuable and a true go-to professional

5. Constantly adjusting your ways: Another true skill is the ability to change your ways, be open to new perspectives, and not be attached to your ways and what you think is good.

In tomorrow's part 2 of "Doing the Work", I will be diving deeper into the second part of the 2 folds of what constitutes meaningful work in the space of Change & Transformation, which is the Inner work.