Jaa

Getting Ready for 2012

  • Artikkeli

"We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done." -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Happy holidays and best wishes for 2012!

I'm looking forward to a fresh start in the New Year.  I want to make the most of January.  Rather than a New Year's Resolution, I'll identify three wins that I want for the year.  I'll also start January off with a 30 Day Improvement Sprint.

I know a lot of folks that are also planning on doing a 30 Day Improvement Sprint in January as a way to bootstrap their year.  They have Getting Results the Agile Way, and they have the free eBook 30 Days of Getting Results.  For many of them, they are going to focus their 30 Day Improvement Sprint on Getting Results.  For others, they are focusing on fitness, or personal development, or a habit they want to change, or a new skill they want to learn.

For me, so far I am thinking that I am going to do a 30 Day Improvement Sprint on Self-Awareness.  I figure it's a great way really make the most of the year, by really diving deep on self-awareness.

Here are some of the self-awareness tools that I think are useful to “know thyself”:

  1. 6 Personality and Work Environment Types (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional)
  2. 360 Degree Feedback
  3. Character Strengths Assessment (Martin Seligman)
  4. DISC Assessment
  5. Golden Circle (Find Your Why)
  6. Insights Discovery Profile
  7. Johari Window
  8. Journaling
  9. Keirsey temperament sorter
  10. Leaderhsip Style
  11. LIFO Survey
  12. Management Style
  13. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
  14. NLP Meta-Programs
  15. Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator
  16. Rules (Dump your rules - "In order to be a great leader, I need to ...")
  17. Strengths Finder Assessment
  18. SWOT Analysis
  19. Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Style Assessment
  20. Vision, Mission, Values

I’ve found the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the strengths profile, the Insights Discovery, and Vision, Mission, and Values to be very insightful, practical, and useful for everyday experience.   In terms of the most surprising and revealing, I found the Golden Circle to be a great tool for really getting on path and making work and life more meaningful.   A lot of executives use it and it’s great for anybody who wants to find their purpose, and connect that with their daily work.

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Comments

  • Anonymous
    December 30, 2011
    J.D. ... Gearing up here for 12 "30-Day Improvement Sprints" in 2012. "12 in 12!" A quick question: How do you keep track of your sprint progress in a given month? Do you try to find something measurable or is it time-based (perhaps a combination of the two?) Would be interested in hearing how you approach this aspect. Have a great year! Todd P.S. Have you checked out Marcus Buckingham's latest titled, "StandOut?" Strengths related to be sure but a bit different from his previous work with Gallup.

  • Anonymous
    January 04, 2012
    @ Todd -- Sadly, my response to this got lost in the system.  It was a long one.  I'll try a shorter one now. The keys are this:

  1.  If it's project based, then I focus on the work complete (I identify outcomes / deliverables against scenarios.)
  2.  If it's exploration, then I identify scenarios that I want to achieve, and I evaluate against the scenarios.
  3.  If it's tough to measure because I don't know what I don't know, then I measure my effort (such as how many hours I put in.) The main thing that I do, that really keeps me going, is each day I ask if there's something little I can do toward my focus or theme.  The little actionable things add up.  At the end of the week, I reflect on my learnings and my wins.   This gives me a simple, but effective look at progress and deal with setbacks in a way that drives me forward. I've read StandOut.  It's a great piece of work and I like the idea of roles and situations.  I think situations are a big deal (same as in "situational leadership.")   That said, I think that really playing to our strengths and finding the arenas for our best results is a challenging pursuit, so there's still lots of opportunity in this space to help more people live their strengths.