I was recently taught by a company president the concept called the "One Thing". This is a powerful tool for yourself and for managers.
The concept is basically this: define for yourself the "One Thing" in a given month that if completed effectively could have the highest level of impact for your organization's growth. WOW! That's hard to do if you have multiple priorities (hmmm..like everyone). But when you sit down to think it through you give yourself such incredible focus!
- You cut through the clutter - it's easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day. And give yourself excuses. By mapping out the One Thing at the beginning of the month you can identify what doesn't need to be done (and maybe have the same or better result).
- You'll keep yourself accountable - you WILL get that One Thing done come hell or high water. How can you not get the One Thing done?
- It's measurable - or at least it should be! You'll know exactly when you accomplished the outcome and can celebrate it.
And from a management perspective...WOW! This particular company president has created a tool that allows him to have visibility on the whole organization in one sheet -250 people in all. He can, at a glance, get a pulse of the organization from the people doing the actual work. Yes, these One Things go through the chain of command and are often re-defined or fleshed out through the process but when it is done and submitted the guy at the top knows what is happening from the front door to the executive office and everywhere in between in a snapshot view. At the end of the month, a second report is generated that reports on how many One Things were accomplished. No pomp and circumstance, no filtering, no fluff. Yes or no. That's powerful! And the whole process takes just a few minutes from all participants and a focused session from the president to understand what activity will take place, or has taken place, in a given month
Read also: Focus is Power and What Gets Measured Gets DONE! on The Ross Leadership Academy
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