Here’s the fate of that report you’re working on…
We’ve all done this.
Worked hard on a report, a training binder, a strategic plan. Polished it. Printed it. Distributed it widely.
Ever wonder where it all ends up?
I happened to be on-site with a client last week, and came across this sight, part of their regular clean-up
Here’s what it makes me think…
- Why am I doing a third draft of this (when I could be doing something else)?
- Why am I adding pages not removing them?
- Surely I can do something other than put it in a binder?
- How will I avoid SPOTS (Strategic Plan On Top Shelf)
- Why aren’t I putting things in a format that people can keep. Or use? Or love?
- How can this be beautiful? Elegant? A work of art?
How about you?
- Why working isn’t working – Jonathan Fields & Tony Schwartz
- Great Work Strategy #1: Definitions
- Should you be working on vacation?
- Spring Clean Your Working Life
Posted in makes me smile
Excellent and simple point in an electronic (and any) age. Sadly, there are the other bins, just out of sight, where all the “relationship binders” (real people) were discarded when their potential for profiting the “user” was deemed exhausted. At least “thoughtful” people harvest the 3-ring binders for reuse by someone, but the human “binders” are written off.
Quite right Randy ~
This was painful, but necessary to read. Completely related to what I am working on. Sometimes I work on a slide and it ends up in the appendix, yet I’ll need to spend hours getting the facts correct and making sure it prints well. No one is going to speak to it!
Right now I have no responses to your thoughtful questions! To be sorted!
Hey Nancy – thanks for the note. I suspect you can guess the company where that video was shot…
Hi Michael,
As Nancy said: painful.
But I don’t think the problem has anything to do with the products you create, but the (mental) environment you’re releasing it to. People have issues. They don’t know what to do with information, when to use it, to what purpose and how it relates to the rest of their lives.
I strongly believe that information products should be easy to go through and easier to use (put into practice). But there remains the issue of: How do I prepare the reader to engage with this product, when he might not even open the binder up to begin with? It’s not an issue of beautifying the product, but preparing the environment to receive it.
I’ve had this issue with information products, which is why I’m looking to develop a holistic approach to personal growth that makes it easier for people to identify what purpose an information product plays in the great scheme of things, and whether it’s truly relevant for them or not.
FYI, I grabbed your book (Do More Great Work) on the Kindle. I’m sure it’s not a looker like its paperback sibling, but extremely impressed with its substance! But – again – I find myself being tugged away from it by other information products. I need to stop and ask myself: When will I use this book? Why should I go through all the maps before I do anything else? When do I plan on going through the maps? Etc.
Haider – that’s quite right. You’ve got to think about how it all embeds. So glad you’ve got the Kindle version. Yes, the lovely design of the book is … compromised. But then again, you get the benefits of the Kindle.
Thanks for your comment ~
Great post.
A very important part of doing your best and not striving for perfection is that you actually accomplish things and get those little victories. Those are the victories that keep you moving through your day. Completion = motivation. Perfection = frustration.
cheers.
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Is this a clip from “Hoarders” on A & E? looks familiar….
no – I actually shot the video myself onsite at a client’s headquarters.