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Got a project that's just not making any progress? The problem may not
be procrastination, but a lack of congruent agreement within yourself
or among your team.
Getting Internal Agreement
Recently I've been working on a new product called Plug the Leaks
in Your Cash Flow, but whenever I started to rake up the enthusiasm
to work on it, my enthusiasm would crash. Rather than struggle forward,
I decided to figure out what was holding me back.
So I asked myself:
"What
part of me is not in agreement to work on this project?"
Inside my head I heard: "Well, I am." So I asked this part
of me: "Why not?" It thought I was putting off another equally
or even more important project that I call Change Your Mind, Change
Your Life.
I thanked it for being open to respond. Then I negotiated with it to
agree to support the current project or at least not stand in its way.
When it realized that Plug the Leaks is a subset of Change Your
Mind, it agreed. And I asked all of my other parts to support this
part in completing the Change Your Mind project next. With all
of these parts in agreement, I asked again:
"What
part of me is not in agreement to work on this project?"
Inside my head I heard: "When are we going to take some time off?"
It was said in kind of a laid back, surfer boy voice. I named him: Vacation
Boy. I told him that he didn't have to work on the project at all, he
could just kick back. He was cool with that. And I got the rest of my
internal parts to agree to support him fully whenever we go on vacation.
With all of these parts in agreement, I asked again:
"What
part of me is not in agreement to work on this project?"
Inside my head I heard nothing but silence. There were no more dissenters.
Ever since I got congruent agreement among all of my internal parts, I
had a sense of calm about the project and I started making progress. All
of the pieces came together without strain. Not without work, but without
struggle. I like working that way. The best news, Plug the Leaks in Your
Cash Flow is finished. You can check it out at http://www.plugtheleaks.com/
Getting External Agreement
Teams of people are no different from internal teams of parts. Whenever
you start a new project, people are often pulled off existing work they
think is important or assigned to projects they question. To accelerate
the success of the team, get congruent agreement before you start.
Ask:
"Before
we begin, who has some concerns about this project?"
The devil's advocate or critic on your team will have a flock of these.
Get the concerns, problems or dissagreements up on a sheet of paper. And
ask:
"How
can we mitigate or resolve these concerns or issues?"
The dreamers and realists on your team will respond with
lots of suggestions for tailoring the project to eliminate all of these
issues. Keep iterating until you converge on agreement. Then ask:
"Are
we all in congruent agreement about moving forward on this project?"
If not, backtrack and continue seeking solutions until you reach agreement.
Getting congruent agreement up front will save you a ton of time.
100% Agreement
You will never get everyone to 100% agreement. Look at presidential elections;
everyone doesn't vote for the same candidate, but after the election we
agree to move forward because it's how our democracy works. I will say
that minimal agreement probably won't hold up. You will need at least
a 50% commitment from each team member to make real progress.
Tools: The Parking Lot
Whenever I facilitate a team, I put up a sheet of paper and label
it the "parking lot." Then as the team goes along, I add concerns
to it as we develop an idea or solve a problem. Most of these issues will
be resolved as we move forward, but before we end the session, I revisit
the parking lot. I make sure we've resolved all of the issues. I ask if
there are any other's we've overlooked and we resolve those.
Inflight Agreement
Other issues will arise as you move forward, because no project is
static. You learn things as you progress. New issues make themselves known.
Resolve them quickly and reach agreement. You're projects will complete
more quickly and with higher quality.
Remember to have fun with yourself and your team.
To learn more about Motivation in the workplace, order Motivate Everyone
from LifeStar, go to <http://www.qimacros.com/orderknow.html>.
To check out my new Plug the Leaks in Your Cash Flow System go to http://www.plugtheleaks.com/.
Feel free to forward this ezine to anyone you know who might enjoy it.
© 2005 Jay Arthur, the KnowWare® Man, works with companies
who want to plug the leaks in their cash flow and people who want to master the
mysteries of the mind.. To have Jay Arthur to train your staff, contact
Jay at (888) 468-1537, lifestar@qimacros.com.  Want
to discover your own "motivation profile?" Go to The
Motivation Profile and take the complete profile online FREE. Compare your
results with your spouse, kids, or coworkers to determine where you are most likely
in alignment and where you conflict. You can also order printed copies of the
motivation profile.
Motivation Profile $9.95 Plus S&H
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Your Copy of Motivate Everyone, from Amazon.com
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