Image: The Productivity Pro$R$

_There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all._  Peter Drucker

_The Effective Executive_ by Peter Drucker $1967$ is author Laura Stacks favourite and most instructive business book. Her own book _"Doing the Right Things Right"_ is to help executives carry out Peter Druckers insights.

[Leadership guru Jim Collins](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/?promoCode=Blog#liveevents) writing the preface in an updated version of _"The Effective Executive"_ summarises Drucker's principles thus:

-	Manage your time not your work

-	Know your priorities; do first things first, and do not multi-task.

-	Results come primarily from building on strength not shoring up weakness

-	Replace the quest for success with the quest for contribution.

-	The critical question is not How can you achieve?, but What can you contribute?

_"Doing the Right Things Right"_ outlines hundreds of ways, steps, and checklists to implement Druckers ideas.

Author Laura Stack focuses on time management by managing effectiveness and efficiency.

[Members of The Growth Faculty](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/onDemand/?region=au&deal=Blogs) can watch the full interview with Laura Stack anytime.

Definition of Effectiveness vs Efficiency:

*  **Effectiveness**  successfully producing the expected or desired result; its the degree to which you achieve your objectives, solve problems, and realise profits.
  *  **Efficiency** - is the accomplishment of a job with the minimum expenditure of time, effort, and cost  the shortest distance between a goal and a checkmark.

In business, effectiveness is summed up by doing the right things and efficiency is summed up by doing things right.

Peter Druckers 5 effectiveness practices are summarised by Laura as:

1\. Understand and control where time goes

2\. Focus on results

3\. Build on strengths

4\. Prioritise tasks

5\. Make effective decisions

Stack says the effective and efficient leader should follow **12 practices sorted into the 3Ts $Thinking strategically, Team focus, Tactical work$:**

Key concepts from "Doing the Right Things Right"

**Goals**  Align strategy and objectives

**Change**  Embrace innovation and adaptability

**Communication ** Share mission, vision and expectations

**Decision-making**  Resolve and execute decisions promptly

Thinking strategically

**Environment**  Build an open team culture

**Performance**  Forge a results-oriented team

**Motivation**  Harness creativity and loyalty

**Growth**  Emphasize continuous improvement

Team focus

**Value**  Focus on high impact activities

**Technology**  Master data handling and workflow

**Agility**  Maximise speed and flexibility

**Balance**  Sustain personal health and mental acuity

Tactical work

By its very nature, strategic thinking requires you to learn to make the best decisions you can as quickly as possible, boosting innovation and flexibility, helping your team adapt to circumstances as they change

1\. Dont try to act on all your ideas at once. Pick your best idea and give it your all.

2\. Dont let history hold you back. Just because something didnt work before doesnt mean it wont work now.

3\. Dont assume the experts are right. Give your idea time to grow then test it.

Steps to success

1\. Emphasise core values 2. Emphasise both individual contributions and team effort. Tell each of them why their work matters and how it moves the organisation forward. Ask them what they need to be more valuable to the marketplace, the organisation, and the team. 3. Focus on a few major goals. Break big goals into manageable pieces. 4. Celebrate when you achieve a goal.

GOALS:

1\. Start with individual team members. Ask about individual goals. 2. Set reasonable goals 3. Ensure a supportive, productive, working environment. 4. Clear the way to the target  and give your team something to shoot for. 5. Track your teams productivity and provide meaningful feedback. You cant manage what you cant measure.

Even the **largest company can weather the change storms** if corporate leaders take advantage of, even welcome, change. As one of those leaders, how can you divert your organisation off a dead end path?

1\. **Encourage innovation** and initiative. Never say I dont pay you to think or If I wanted your opinion Id ask for it. These are dinosaur thinking statements. Take advantage of their experience, imagination and desire to help.

2\. **Empower your team** to own their jobs. Tell your people the general direction you want them to go and let them tell you how to get there. Delegate enough responsibility and authority for your team to do whatever they feel they must without have to ask, and without punishment if something fails.

3\. **Make your organisation worth working for**. Everyone wants to be proud of their work. Celebrate the good things. Explain how each of them can change the world of work.

**Improvement**  the problem lies in the implementation. Leadership frequently fails because we cant see our greatest flaws.

1\. Set aside your ego. Take everyone and everything into account before you leap.

2\. Carefully pick a direction and stick with it. Focus on growing what you do best.

3\. Model yourself after the best in your field. What can you learn from activities competitors have done right, as well as what theyve done wrong?

4\. Communicate intentionally.

The greatest **obstacle to change** is usually a reluctance to modify or abandon familiar, comforting procedures. But an agile organisation has no choice but to change in the face of reality. Adaptation rules the day. 6 change management methods:

1\. **Employ enhanced flexibility.** Be open to modifying the scope and direction of projects as you move forward.

2\. **Aim for controlled growth**. As we move into a business landscape that has been decimated by recent economic troubles, we must take care not to expand too far, too fast. Take time when you need it so you can consolidate your gains.

3\. **Consider calculated abandonment.** Help your people adjust to changes that result from selling off or abandoning underperforming projects, markets or locations.

4\. **Constantly upgrade your technology**. It might be time to buy new devices to boost productivity and engagement. The stuff you were using last year might be given away in cereal boxes next year.

5\. **Retune your teams activities regularly**. Each team member is like an instrument in an orchestra. Check in with your team regularly to make sure theyre in tunenot only with the team but with the organisation.

6\. **Evolve with society.** No matter how much you love the product you make or service you provide, it can become obsolete overnight as society changes. Be willing to reconsider your branding and reinvent yourself occasionally.

Setting goals as a team 

Plain talk, honesty and cooperation.

1\. **Repeatedly communicate** your expectations. Keep your mission in front of your team. Repeat your goals until youre blue in the face. Lead by example.

2\. **Triple check** for understanding.

3\. **Communicate in multiple ways**

Trust, but verify. Make sure team members understand not just WHAT but WHY.

Communication:

Dithering is neither effective nor efficient, and a successful business leader will avoid it. Dont let meditation overcome motion. Once youve decided, **act on it.** If it fails, you tried.

Test your choices against **core values, mission and vision**. Follow the decision to its logical conclusion $can you see danger lurking?$. Will your decision make your company more money than it spends? Every choice you make closes doors. Finally, will this decision slow workflow and efficiency?

1\. Consider as many options as possible without stalling.

2\. Take reasonable precautions. Even if youre excited, do due diligence.

3\. Dont hesitate to reverse direction.

4\. Dont automatically dismiss new opportunities.

Decision Making

The only way to move forward. Make decisionslots of them. Constantly. If you make 5 wrong decisions, youve ruled out 5 things that wont work.

The flip side of conflict. Careful handling of honest disagreements can inject a much needed breath of fresh air into the workplace atmosphere.

- Conflict doesnt have to stifle innovation or bring your workflow to a screeching halt.

- Dissension has its place in workplace discussions. If nothing else it lets people **blow off steam** and feel more engaged  crucial factors in performance and productivity.

- Conflict sparks healthy debate and competition. It avoids the blind agreement that characterizes groupthink. Colourless **groupthink serves you poorly** in business. It also stirs up the team culture. If an idea looks like it wont work, let debate sort it out  dont just cut it down immediately.

- Conflict gives everyone a voice in decision making, making sure no one feels left out. It leads to a better understanding of ones teammates.

- Conflict allows constructive change. **Well-reasoned disagreement,** especially when the dissenter stands by it, can result in improvement not only for one project but for subsequent ones as well.

- Conflict short circuits worse problems. Properly handled conflict allows individuals to resolve their differences before they explode.

**EXECUTE**  As a leader, its your responsibility to elicit results. If your people are dragging their feet shake them up a bit.

1\. **Stop accepting excuses.** If lack of training or equipment slows productivity, rectify the situation. If people still dont produce find out why and correct the issues in whatever way necessary.

2\. **Set strict deadlines**. Make team goals clear, while setting dates for producing what your superiors require.

3\. **Dont overcomplicate.** All you need is a basic roadmap, so choose the easiest, cheapest way to execute the mission. Embrace flexibility.

4\. **Hone their skills.** Send your team to training, even for skills they dont need now but may need in the future. Urge them to invest in continuing education to increase their personal ROIs.

5\. **Help them structure their time**. Intervene if necessary on scheduling for low performers.

Conflict:

Executives have evolved from **being bosses to being team members**. Smart leaders realise they get further by forming partnerships with their employees. Strategy is more fluid and responsive to change than ever before.

1\. **Sincerely view your employees as your greatest asset.** Everyone says they do this, but in our precarious economy, some leaders still see employees as replaceable. Good workers cost a lot to replace. In a knowledge-based economy your teammates become especially valuable because their skills are completely portable. Care about them.

2\. **Communicate leadership by word and deed.** Talk is cheap. If you cant keep a promise dont make it.

3\. **Unlock their enthusiasm and energy**. Find reasons for your team members to pour their discretionary effort into their work. Empower them in every way possible. Allow them to do their jobs without too much interference.

4\. **Provide training.** Give your employees the intellectual and educational tools they need to maximise their potential. Team them to ask themselves Did I pay for myself today?

Environment

**Move from meditation to motion as quickly as possible.** Its important you may have to force the evolution of corporate culture at times. This means aggressively adopting new technologies and strategies, as well as emphasizing force multipliers such as delegation, accountability and communication. The easier you make it for your team to excel, the more likely they will.

Business is becoming more complicated, competitive and unpredictable by the day. Occasionally, you have to stop, take a **good look round** and **breathe deeply** and then do whatever it takes to reduce the outrageous complexity everyone faces.

Leaders create unnecessary complexity when they:

- Overthink business situations

- Overengineer products and services

- Lose focus on what truly matters

- Avoid handling important issues

- Repeatedly reinvent the process wheel.

- Aimlessly chase unclear goals

- Fear that simplifying means eliminating jobs.

Laura says that instead of **crashing and burning against the wall of over-complexity** , we should all hit the brakes, take our sledgehammer out of the trunk, and start breaking down the wall

_If you'd like to increase your professional development why not consider becoming a member of The Growth Faculty? One membership, unlimited access to 30 live virtual_[ **_Time For Transformation_**](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/?promoCode=Blog#liveevents)[ __](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/?promoCode=Blog#liveevents)_masterclasses and the best live virtual events - PLUS year-round leadership content On Demand with videos, podcasts and book summaries. Join a community of knowledge seekers who are inspired by the best. Access $4350+ value for just $398 AUD._[ **_See who's up next_**](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/?promoCode=Blog#liveevents)[ **_._**](https://growth.lightning.force.com/lightning/r/Blog_Post__c/a1d4G000004oYwKQAU/view)

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