johnmaconline

(Seth’s original post)

Enhancing productivity, both personal and team, doesn’t require innovative ideas, authoritarianism, or monk-like discipline. It starts with simply respecting everyone’s time, including your own. 

From Seth:

• Show up on time. Leave when the work is done.
• Respect synchronized time. If you can put it in a video instead of saying it live, please do.

Perfect. No more needs to be said. 

I’ll add three of my own specifically for leaders:

• Make objectives, or at least the endpoint, clear and socialized. It doesn’t mean formal or corporate objectives. It just means whatever you’re trying to do at this time. 
• Swat the flies. Keep them shielded from unnecessary external requests, distractions, and noise.
• Respect work-life integration. 

Respecting their time means allowing them to spend it as they need. 

P.S. Wasting time and respecting time are not diametrically opposed. Sometimes, “wasting time” is exactly what you or the team needs. 

(Seth’s original post)

I placed an ad to sell a truck on Facebook Marketplace. After wading through the bots and scammers, I engaged with a real human. Then this:

Me: When would you like to see it?
Them: How long will it take me to get there?

Me: That depends on where you are [eyebrow raised].
Them: I’m in Trenton, New Jersey.

Me: I’m in Oley, PA [as is clearly marked on the ad — now its a flag]
Them: How long will it take me to go from Trenton to Oley?

I ghosted them. 

Maybe you’re thinking, “What? Why?” Or maybe you’re thinking that’s harsh.

I don’t purposely let people waste my time (if I can help it), and I put respect for others’ time at the top of my list. 

From Seth:

• When you get stuck, first ask Claude, then ask a human.

I had no interest in being Google, Maps, or Claude for this person. They’re talking to me on their device. They have any or all of those. They could have literally typed those same 13 words into any browser, map, or AI app and gotten the answer. 

Instead, they’re asking me to do it for them.

There are a million good reasons to ask another person instead of asking a device (for example), but productivity starts with respecting your and others’ time and continues with knowing how to use your tools.

Asking the right questions to the right source makes you exponentially more productive, knowledgeable, and valuable.

(Seth’s original post)

Ah, my two pet peeves — meetings and the overuse of email. The perfect place to start a conversation on personal and team productivity.

Meetings

It’s very simple: Less meetings. Shorter meetings. Smaller meetings. 

Not less conversation or less communication. Less time spent in (physical or virtual) rooms as an observer, reporting status, and generally not engaged in the activities that move you and the team forward simply because someone else thought you should be there or has booked an hour for a conversation that should take 10 minutes. 

Here are some tips for having more effective meetings:

• Use tools for reporting and collecting status. Never meetings.
• Have a 1-on-1 discussion if that will suffice
• Decline meetings that aren’t important for you
• Decline or ask for reschedule of meetings that don’t fit your timeline
• Change the default time for meeting invites to 15 minutes.
• Invite only the necessary people. Three to five people is the ideal size for a meeting. 

[NOTE: As group size increases, individual effort decreases, and the effectiveness of the group tends to flatten out and sometimes decrease — the Ringelmann Effect.]

Email

Email is great. It’s the most revolutionary communication tool for office workers since the copy machine. It’s ubiquitous, simple, and well-understood, and that, unfortunately, leads to its overuse in areas for which it’s a sucky tool. 

Here’s what it’s great for:

• Formal communication (external and internal)
• Publication / one-way broadcast
• Meeting invites
• RSVP / confirmations

Here’s what it’s NOT for:

• Conversation
• Questions

For internal conversation and questions, or anything in real-time, use chat tools such as Slack/Teams.  

Think of email as a library and the chat tool as a coffee shop. 

• If you’d say it in the hallway, don’t email it. 
• If you need back-and-forth, don’t email it. 
• If you need an answer in real time, don’t email it. 

Meetings and email aren’t the enemy, but are woefully misused sometimes. 

Use them well, and you build trust and productivity. Use them poorly, and you’re just wasting everybody’s time.

Here’s what Seth Godin recently said about “Simple and Painless Productivity:”

• Don’t invite someone to a meeting if an email or 1:1 conversation will do the job just as well.
• Don’t fly if you can show up virtually and get the job done.
• Instead of asking a group of people when a good time to meet might be, use a doodle.
• Send a calendar invite when you book a time.
• When you get stuck, first ask Claude, then ask a human.
• Show up on time. Leave when the work is done.
• Default to using shared docs (like Google docs) for any collaborative work.
• For repeated tasks, make a checklist. Update it and share it as you go.
• Respect synchronized time. If you can put it in a video instead of saying it live, please do.

I talk a lot about productivity here because a quest for my own productivity (or, more accurately, ownership of my own time) has been part of my journey. 

Also, I talk about leadership in today’s post-industrial, new work paradigm. Helping your team be productive. Recognizing what productivity looks like. NOT being part of the problem. Because this has also been a big part of my journey.

I love Seth’s list above. I mostly agree with it all, but have my own take on these points, plus some of my own. I’ll spend the next few days fleshing these out here. 

Starting with meetings and email…

I had the great fortune of watching my daughter mash the Boston Marathon. I spectated from mile 24.9.

It’s on Beacon st, right at the crest of a little hill that doesn’t register on the list of famous features to look out for on the route, such as Heartbreak Hill in Newton.

The crowd picks up here — 3-4 deep. Lots of cowbells and encouragement. Fenway’s right there. You’ve got just one more turn to make onto Boyleston and down the iconic finishing shoot. The last watering station is just ahead. You’ve got this.

But if this is your first time on the course, it’s probably unexpected. You’re past the famous hills. Nobody (except those who know) talks about this little blip. You had no idea.

Make no mistake, this little non-feature was a heartbreaker for many, even without the moniker.

I watched this last blip wipe out a bunch of people. Brought some to their knees. Lots of wobblers and walkers. I saw people crying.

But everyone kept going. One foot in front of the other.

It’s one thing to know the hard times are coming. You can prepare. Train. Get yourself emotionally ready.

It’s a whole other thing when you had no idea. They are, by far, the hardest.

There’s just something that feels cruel about that little blip that nobody talks about right at the end.

Will you keep going?

Holidays, religion, family, work.

Tradition drives a lot of the processes and procedures around much of our lives. Like code passed down through generations. The hardware is the same, but the software is different.

Some of it elegant and efficient. Some of it full of bugs.

Some traditions anchor us. Give the event meaning. Bring stability, connection, and nostalgia. A sense of place. You don’t rewrite the code that works. You build on it.

Some traditions hold us back. They’re written for an old platform. They solved problems that no longer exist. They addressed fears that are no longer real. Yet we keep running them, unaware of the drag on performance.

When we treat all traditions as sacred, we miss the chance to debug. To evolve. To make the system better. Sometimes, that means updating a line or two. Sometimes, that means starting over.

Honor the past. Understand the source. Respect the emotions.

Then patch it, replace it, or maintain it.

We can debate whether ambition is a virtue or a vice.

However, the person, team, institution, or nation with the ambition will beat the ones without. Every time.

Ambition is fuel. It doesn’t ask for permission. It doesn’t wait for you to catch your breath. It doesn’t care about fairness, rest, or balance.

While you may want stability, ambition wants growth.
While you manage, ambition leads.
While you’re resting, ambition is racing.

Ambition has its downsides. Your worth isn’t tied to your ambition. It doesn’t make you a better friend, partner, or human. It can burn you out. It can cost you relationships, sleep, and sanity.

But make no mistake, if there’s a race on, ambition wins every time.