I was assisting an organization in the development of a training program for new employees, and at our first meeting I was handed a 110 page learning “strategy” document. Yes, I was astounded by the amount of time and effort someone had put into creating this document.
I soon realized that no one wanted to implement anything and that was the reason for such a long and verbose document. They were being perfectionist; bogging themselves down and not moving forward on the project.
Despite the many hours we might invest writing and perfecting a strategy document, clarity only occurs from “doing”. In school, most of us were conditioned to learn through reading and writing, neglecting the fact that the majority of what we learn in life is through doing, or as any learning professional will say, “experiential learning”.
Overthinking and planning is an actual sign someone, or team is struggling with fear. This can lead to underperforming as they are confusing “activity” and “accomplishment”.
When you have clarity on what needs to be achieved, it’s easier to start a project and run with it before you are “ready”. Waiting for the right moment or the perfect plan will never move you towards your goal.
Here are a few strategies that will help you gain clarity as you move towards accomplishing your goal through doing.
Defined Goals
Vague and unclear goals lead towards a lot of activity that doesn’t accomplish much. Defining end goals allows you to move forward on something even when you don’t have all the answers at the start of a project.
Be Agile
Most plans in our modern day business world are outdated one minute after implementation. It’s now imperative to perform at your best; you need agility. Being prepared to pivot and adjust will always ensure you reach and most often exceed your goals.
Be an Experiential Learning
Look for opportunities to sharpen your experiential learning skills. This requires movement away from traditional learning methods and into an active, “hands on” approach to learning, through doing, reflective thinking, adjusting and doing again.
Keep strategizing, avoid 100 page strategy documents and just do it. You will be surprised by how well projects will move forward, and the clarity you gain in the process.
All the best in achieving your highest performance.
Paul
Image courtesy of Jeroen van Oostrom at FreeDigitalPhotos.net