预计阅读本页时间：-
Evening Minutes—Reviewing and Learning
Julie, the head of a division of a retail company with which I work, was at risk of getting fired. Here’s the crazy thing: she was a top performer. She had done more for the brand in the past year than any of her predecessors had in five years.
广告：个人专属 VPN，独立 IP，无限流量，多机房切换，还可以屏蔽广告和恶意软件，每月最低仅 5 美元
The problem was that she was a bear to work with. She worked harder than seemed humanly possible and expected the same of others, often losing her temper when they wouldn’t put in the same herculean effort she did. She was also competitive and territorial; she wanted the final say on all decisions remotely related to her brand, even when her peers technically had the authority to make them. She wasn’t good at listening to others or empowering them or helping them feel good about themselves or the team. And though she was working all hours, things were falling through the cracks.
But none of that was the problem for which she was at risk of losing her job. The real problem was that she didn’t think she had a problem. And the reason she didn’t think she had a problem was because she was working so hard she never paused long enough to think about it.
I was asked to work with her, and my first step was to interview everyone with whom she worked in order to understand the situation and share their perspectives with her.
When I did share the feedback, her response surprised me. “I didn’t know it was that bad,” she said, “but it doesn’t surprise me.” I asked her why.
“This is the same feedback I received at my previous company,” she said. “It’s why I left.”
We could look at Julie and laugh at her ignorance. At her unwillingness to look at her own behavior, at her failures. And to repeat them. But the laugh would be a nervous one. Because many of us—and this includes me—do the same thing.
I’m often amazed at how many times something has to happen to me before I figure it out. I believe that most of us get smarter as we get older. But somehow, despite that, we often make the same mistakes. On the flip side—but no less comforting—we often do many things right but then fail to repeat them.
There’s a simple reason for it. We rarely take the time to pause, breathe, and think about what’s working and what’s not. There’s just too much to do and no time to reflect.
I was once asked: If an organization could teach only one thing to its employees, what single thing would have the most impact? My answer was immediate and clear: Teach people how to learn. How to look at their past behavior, figure out what worked and repeat it, while admitting honestly what didn’t and changing it. That doesn’t mean spending all their time developing their weaknesses. In many cases, what people need to learn is how to leverage their strengths while mitigating the negative impact of their weaknesses. But learning from their past successes and failures is the key to long-term success.
If a person can do that well, everything else takes care of itself. That’s how people become lifelong learners. And it’s how companies become learning organizations. It requires confidence, openness, and letting go of defenses. What doesn’t it require? A lot of time.
It takes only a few minutes. About five, actually. A brief pause at the end of the day to consider what worked and what didn’t.
Here’s what I propose…
Save a few minutes before leaving the office, before stopping work, or simply toward the end of your day to think about what just happened. Look at your calendar and compare what actually happened—the meetings you attended, the work you got done, the conversations you had, the people with whom you interacted, even the breaks you took—with your plan for what you wanted to have happen. Then ask yourself three sets of questions:
How did the day go? What success did I experience? What challenges did I endure?
What did I learn today? About myself? About others? What do I plan to do—differently or the same—tomorrow?
Whom did I interact with? Anyone I need to update? Thank? Ask a question of? Share feedback with?
This last set of questions is invaluable in terms of maintaining and growing relationships. It takes just a few short minutes to shoot off an email—or three—to share your appreciation for a kindness extended or to ask someone a question or keep them in the loop on a project.
If we don’t pause to think about it, we are apt to overlook these kinds of communications. But in a world where we depend on others—and what other world is there?—they are essential.
After several long conversations, Julie came to appreciate the efficiency of slowing down enough to see the others around her. To see that she was working so hard, moving so fast, that even if she was delivering quality results, she was working against herself. Putting her job at risk. And making things harder, not easier.
So over time, she began to change. Slowly and with great effort. But people began to notice. I knew things were going to be okay when I left her a message expecting a call back in several weeks, if at all, but she called me back that evening.
“Hi, Peter,” she said. “I just wanted to let you know I got your call and I appreciate you reaching out to me. I’m heading out with the team for some drinks. I’ll try you again in a few days.”
And, sure enough, she did.
Spend a few minutes at the end of each day thinking about what you learned and with whom you should connect. These minutes are the key to making tomorrow even better than today.
