Whether you are an independent consultant, a manager, or an employee you probably want to make as much progress in your professional and personal life as is humanly possible. However, for some weird cosmic reason progress is often resisted. In business as well as personal life, we want to make progress as quickly as possible because it often brings both fiscal rewards and a sense of personal fulfillment. But you must be diligent to guard against the enemies to progress. Here are a few of these enemies and what to do about them.

Lack of a plan is probably the single largest obstacle to good progress. Scientific discoveries are often accidental but product development, awesome theatrical productions, and human development must be founded upon a good plan. Even small projects like a pleasant date or an evening with friends benefits from a plan. A good plan can be as simple as a list of tasks and resources written on the back of an envelope. So don’t let a lack of a plan get you off the path to success. I’m told that General Patton once said, “I’d rather have a good plan today than a perfect plan tomorrow.”

I’ve often taken on a challenge to get something done without the necessary resources. When you’re short on resources it’s good to be long on resourcefulness. I’ve worked with some people who refused to learn a new technology or wouldn’t commit to a schedule until the project was complete. If you want a wedding on the cheap or you want to tour Europe for a month or you just want to make the biggest bang for the buck for a new product launch my suggestion is to focus on resourcefulness not resources. Enlist the help of resourceful people and shy away from those who demand that everything is provided for them ahead of time.

I have this bizarre habit of visiting a McDonald’s in every foreign country that I visit. I don’t do it because I’m homesick I do it because McDonald’s Corporation requires consistency among their franchises yet allows for regionalization. In the Southwest you can get green chili on your burger, in Japan you can get a teriyaki burger or a squash shake. The Big Mac tastes the same in all countries but the regional options allow some of the local flavor to shine through. However, one of things that is not consistent across the international boundaries is the level of service. And I hate to say it but I’ve often received the poorest service right here in the good ol’ USA. Some servers won’t greet you or tell you the total. I’ve had my food tray slammed on the counter or slid across the counter too me as if it was to tiring to take one more step to hand it to me. It is very hard to find employees, especially for low paying service jobs, that are diligent and serious about their work. However, I’ve seen the same problem in high-paying jobs when employees refuse to treat their co-workers with respect, or carry their share of the work-load, or avoid schedule commitments. Whenever possible, eliminate laziness in yourself, and surgically remove it from your support team. If a person is lazy in their work they are probably lazy intellectually as well and may have other personality traits that will sabotage your project. Get rid of them quickly and avoid hiring them in the first place.

One enemy of progress that is particularly difficult to deal with is a lack of trust. If you want to get something done as quickly as possible you need to earn the trust of the people working with you. Without trust, people won’t commit to the unusual demands and schedule of the project. They may grow suspicious that the accelerated time-line is just an excuse to get more work for the same pay. To avoid trust issue you have to be as open as possible about the issues involved and you have to set the mark for dedication to the project. If your staff is working extra hours but they see you leave early, take long lunches, or have highly animated phone conversations with a lover they’ll lose their respect for you and resort to extended breaks or gossip sessions that will most certainly impact the time-line. If you want something unusual make sure you lead by example.

Strife among the team is another nasty problem to deal with. The best way to deal with it is to avoid creating a fertile environment for it to grow. If you lack a plan, don’t have resourceful people, have lazy team-mates, and a lack of trust you can be absolutely certain strife will flourish. People often perform at their best when they’re challenged at a level that is a little higher than they’re used to. However, if you assign a task that is way out of line with a person’s capabilities you are creating a time-bomb for yourself. If you find that a couple of team members have a particularly difficult time getting along you need to act quickly to get some level of agreement. They don’t have to become “best buds” but you should insist that they get along amicably and professionally for the sake of the project.

There you have it, 5 enemies to progress and a few suggestions on how to defend against them. Progress is great and provides us with a great sense of fulfillment. You’ll make the most progress when you have a plan, gather resourceful people, avoid laziness at all costs, build trust, and inculcate a culture of quick amicable conflict resolution. Progress isn’t always easy, but I bet you knew that already.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 19th, 2008 at 7:39 pm and is filed under Life Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.