adminZachary Aldwin : Milkshake in the Boardroom
For those of you who missed my previous confession in the life of Zach, I have been engaging in a few more DIY projects than normal. For a guy who struggles to remember what colour the positive terminal is on his car battery, this is a big step. Thankfully most car batteries come with a big ‘‘plus sign’’ on them nowadays and Youtube can answer almost any basic Do-It-Yourself question you throw at it.The most time consuming challenge has been repainting the interior of my house. Painting ranks close to the bottom of the DIY difficulty scale so I am in pretty safe territory; about the worst I could do is knock a tin over onto my floor. A strange phenomenon has happened as I have gone room by room in my painting marathon-I have got more dissatisfied with the unpainted ones and a stronger desire to paint them has built up.
The house last had a touch up over five years ago and in a town with red mud abounding the paint is, for want of a better word, dirty.
When the first room was complete there was a definite and obvious difference between the glistening new paint finish and the other unpainted walls around the house.
Despite the new paint in the one room the bulk of the house was still a mess so it was easy to mentally block out the difference by closing a door.
As I have painted each room the amount of dirty walls in the house has lessened, the character of each of the freshly painted room has changed and become more likeable. This last week there came a distinct tipping point; I absolutely have to finish the job because the last couple of unpainted rooms now stand out far more than they did before.
The gap between each paint job has lessened and rather than being a job that I would do when a free weekend came around, I am now actively seeking to make time to do the next room.
I suppose I should have known it would happen. It is a common enough occurrence in the psychology of change and project completion.
Do a jigsaw puzzle and as you get to the end and can see where the last few pieces fit your rate of tile fitting and desire to complete the puzzle skyrocket. What does this mean to us?
If you are running a project-based team you may have to generate the energy near the beginning of a project before it reaches the point where it rushes towards completion.
Note that I said ‘‘near the beginning’’. Many projects start with great energy that hits a slump after a bit.
Pushing through the slump may require a catalyst to get to the glorious stage where everyone can see the finish line and gallops towards it.
Why does this happen? One reason has to do with the images we hold in our minds. We can have in our minds two images; one of the way things are and the other of the way things should be. The problem is we cannot hold both in our minds at the same time. Imagine a young boy at the end of a long table.
In front of him is a very tasty jelly but if he looks at the other end there is a glorious chocolate cake and he knows he likes cake very much.
The table is about to be cleared and he only has time to grab one. He starts out towards the cake but as he goes he looks back at the jelly.
Here is the moment of indecision. The jelly is closer and attractive, it will fulfil in part his desire for sugar.
The cake is better but further away and has a price-the distance and the giving up of the jelly. The answer to which direction the boy goes lies simply in the direction that he keeps looking. Projects start with high energy because the vision is cast well at the beginning.
As the price to ship becomes apparent and obstacles get in the way it is important to keep the team focused on the vision – on the positive aspects of success – if they are to push through the slump.
It is the tension that creates the movement. Do not be afraid of allowing the look back provided you manage it correctly. The moment of looking back briefly is essential, but make sure that it is brief and that the next look is forwards. The look back must not be one of complaining about how it could have been, rather it is just a ‘‘look how far we have come’’.
Then just like an elastic band flying off the finger the snap towards the vision will almost complete itself.
Now, where did I put my brush?
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