Page 65 - Make Work Great

It Starts with You

For now, focus only on fi nding new information. What do you
know, and how might you open doors to discover more?

It’s a Lot, and It’s a Little
As you can see, all six forms of overtness help you address that criti-
cal ratio: your level of output and the amount of stress around you.
By being overt with yourself about what you’re supposed to deliver,
the impact of those deliveries on your “customers,” your incentives
for making the deliveries, how you’re progressing, and what resources
and information you need to make your deliveries, you begin to build
a workplace for yourself in which you know exactly what you’re doing
and how you’re doing it. You begin to focus not only on maximum
output, but also on minimum stress.
If much of this is new to you, don’t make the mistake of trying to
do everything at once. Start small and build from there. If all you do
this week is create a more complete summary outputs list for yourself,
it will be an excellent fi rst step. If all you do in the subsequent two
weeks is create a visibility system for just one of your outputs, that’s
plenty. Small, regular steps in the right direction are far preferable to

a flurry of activity followed by a stall.
As you begin to improve on your own six types of overtness, you’ll
notice improvements in your critical ratio. You’ll see more output
with less stress. This is not only an enhancement to your own work
but also the start of the seed crystal for the new culture you plan to
grow. Nucleation has begun.

EXERCISES

1. Review the six types of overtness about task.

2. Write a summary outputs list for your job or set a date by which
you will do so. Include an overall purpose statement and fi ve

54