by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Planning, Productivity, Time, Tools
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Duplicate yourself – Part 1
Duplicate yourself – Part 2
Duplicate yourself – Part 3
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 27 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Duplicate yourself – Part 4
— From Work Less, Make More: Stop Working So Hard and Create the Life You Really Want! By Jennifer White
Welcome to the 4th and last part of this miniseries. So far we’ve learned how and what to duplicate, and todays’ idea will focus on knowing when duplication works.
This is very important, because part of planning for anything is figuring out what success will look like. To address this specifically, Jennifer White the author, writes:
Take a holiday where you cut yourself from the office. […] It takes courage to trust the folks you put in place. When you get back from your sabbatical, you’ll be able to see what falls apart, what doesn’t get done correctly, and what is substandard work. It’ll give you insights into where your duplication process works and where it doesn’t.
Will you ever be free unless you duplicate who you are? You’ll never know when you are free because you’ve been unwilling to test the system. Knowing that the system works gives you a sense of relief when you’re not working. You’ll certainly make more of your life without carrying all that guilt.
Most people don’t have the courage to test their duplication system. They don’t want to feel superfluous. They want to feel as if the whole world would crash around them if they weren’t there.
[…] Don’t hinder your ability to Work Less, Make More by needing to feel needed. You want to feel superfluous. You want to be taken out of the picture. You want to have such strong people around you that you no longer have to worry that the job’s getting done.
It’s the only way to free yourself up to live the life you want to live. Don’t worry. You’ll find more interesting, exciting things to propel yourself forward, and you have the space to be the creative force behind your future success. Think duplication.”
This reminds me of the process that lifestyle design guru Tim Ferriss created to be able to let his business work without him. He duplicated himself by creating systems, training a team and setting up the technology(ies) needed to make this happen. You can read all about this in his bestselling book The 4-Hour Workweek. (Here’s a post on productivity from that book.) Ferriss says that if your goal is to “free your time to focus on bigger and better things […] it’s not about working smarter. It’s about building a system to replace yourself. […] Preparing someone to replace you (even if it never happens) will produce an ultrarefined set of rules that will cut remaining fat and redundancy from your schedule. Lingering unimportant tasks will disappear as soon as someone else is being paid to do them.”
Another entrepreneur who duplicated and “outsourced” himself was Chris Ducker. He did it in about a year. And he did it with a virtual team and systems. As a result of blogging his journey to fulfill his goal of becoming a virtual CEO, he eventually launched Virtual Staff Finder, a company that helps busy people find virtual assistants. You can read about his journey and how to get help from virtual assistants in his book Virtual Freedom.
ACTION
TODAY: Jennifer White suggests doing this great exercise: “Draw a line down the middle of a blank sheet of paper. Write delegate on the left side of the page. Write duplicate on the right side. Evaluate each task you do. Can you delegate this task or should you train someone to duplicate. Don’t stop until the entire list is done. You’ve just developed a plan—once you have the right technology and people in place—to allow yourself to take three months off without losing money. It’s up to you to put the plan into action.”
FUTURE: If you like this concept of duplicating yourself to work less or simply work on other things that bring you more rewards and satisfaction, give some serious thought to duplicating yourself to free up time and space in your life.
Hope you enjoyed this miniseries! 😀 Please share it with someone who would like the idea of duplication. You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Planning, Productivity, Time, Tools
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Duplicate yourself – Part 1
Duplicate yourself – Part 2
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 44 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Duplicate yourself – Part 3
— From Work Less, Make More: Stop Working So Hard and Create the Life You Really Want! By Jennifer White
In this miniseries we’ve been talking about the importance of “duplicating” parts of yourself, and so far we’ve learned what is and is not duplication, as well as what to look for in our “clones.” Today we will determine what to duplicate and how to do so.
While duplicating yourself could possibly entail hiring someone, Jennifer White (the author) says, “that’s limited thinking.” She explains: “You can find the right people who will become partners, vendors, suppliers, strategic allies, independent contractors or employees.”
When you hire employees, you naturally have to deal with a lot of other issues: salaries, taxes, vacations, and so much more. White says you shouldn’t box yourself into thinking that. Instead, “ think about creating a virtual support team. A team you personally select to duplicate parts of who you are.” Technology today enables us to do this and much more.
On Part 1 you answered the questions that enabled you to figure out which qualities in yourself you need/want to duplicate. Now you need to look at the abilities that you need to duplicate. “What is it that these folks will do? Look at the three most important things you do, the activities that add the most value. Within each area, a multitude of items must get done.”
White gives the example of connecting with customers. Let’s assume you are a master at that. Then a very important part of building and maintaining those relationships with your customers is the follow up phase (phone, email, etc.) “What if you could train someone or something to duplicate your follow up process? It would happen automatically—without your doing one thing—and the customers will feel cared for because the follow up was way beyond their expectations.”
ATTENTION HERE: we’re talking duplicating and not delegating the follow-up process. “The difference is that the person/system you create duplicates exactly what you would do if you were to do it. It’s not about you dictating a letter that your assistant types. In that case you’re still doing the work. Duplication means you do not do anything to generate what needs to get done. Nothing.”
Was that last “nothing” appealing but sounded too good to be true? Here are some possibilities for duplicating this example of a follow-up process:
- The right person. Someone who could be an employee, independent contractor or customer service rep can follow up for you. “This person has the exact same personality that you do so the customers feel as if they were talking to you.”
- Hiring a salesperson. This person would handle the contact from first visit to sale. While this normally happens when companies are in the growth stage, White asks, “Why wait until that happens?”
- An automated system. This sends letters, emails, etc., at specified times as follow up. The system duplicates the process. When we feel overwhelmed or overloaded, it is natural to ask who can help you. White, however, suggests you ask a better question: “How can I automate this so no one has to do it?”
As you can see, there are many ways in which you can duplicate yourself and what you do. Both technology and manpower exist at very reasonable costs nowadays to be able to do it, even if you are a solopreneur.
ACTION
TODAY: Jot down the areas that you could potentially duplicate. While it’s counterintuitive, those things that nobody does as well as you do, are exactly what you should duplicate to enlarge your reach, grow your practice, have more time, or whatever your goals are. Once you’ve found out what you want to duplicate, then come up with at least 3 ways to duplicate that activity. White says, “Think in terms of technology and people. How can you automate the process? Who can you bring to your team to duplicate you?”
TOMORROW: Come back to read Part 4 to learn how to know when duplication works!
FUTURE: Keep jotting down the ideas that come to mind about parts of you that you can duplicate with people, systems and/or technology. Remember that there is no such thing as a shortage of ideas. The more parts you duplicate successfully, the more freedom you will have to spend your time and energy in the pursuit of other (related or unrelated) goals.
Please share Part 3 of “Duplicate yourself” with someone who could use a little duplication, you can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Planning, Productivity, Time, Tools
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Duplicate yourself – Part 1
Duplicate yourself – Part 3
Duplicate yourself – Part 4
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 14 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Duplicate yourself – Part 2
— From Work Less, Make More: Stop Working So Hard and Create the Life You Really Want! By Jennifer White
In yesterday’s post we learned that we can, and should, “duplicate” parts of ourselves to increase our output and “make more,” as the title of the book suggests (Work Less, Make More). This does not only refer to money, but also to time, and to the freedom to make the most out of life for ourselves and our goals and dreams.
So let’s jump right in: How do you go about finding the right people to duplicate you?
Jennifer White, the author, has outlined a few aptitudes and attitudes that people should have in order to substitute you well. Give this some thought as you go about this process. (Note: This will help you figure out WHO will duplicate you if you can go that route. However, don’t get discouraged or stop reading this miniseries, since we will also consider WHAT (technology/systems) can duplicate you).
1. Find people who have the right personality for your chemistry. As we saw yesterday, your same chemistry needs to be present in the person that will duplicate you. Find someone with the same characteristics and “don’t downplay the importance of working with folks who have the same chemistry as you.”
2. Find people who have a track record. People’s track records speak for themselves. “Saying you can do something is different from actually doing it. Find people who have already done what you most need. They could bring a new twist or a new idea to what you’ve been doing for so long.”
3. Find people who are willing to commit to the long term. “Developing a powerful relationship requires that you’re both committed to the same vision and the same long-term plan. The last thing you want to do is to train people to duplicate you, and then they jump ship. Be very clear on what you expect from them, and find a way to determine what they want.”
4. Find people who are coachable. “A vital part of duplicating yourself effectively is training. Select folks who are coachable. They’re open to looking at their performances and improving them. You’ll become their coach to ensure they’ll duplicate what you want duplicated. If you’re not willing to coach and train people how to duplicate you, don’t bother looking for the right people. Their success does depend on how much time, energy, and passion you invest in them.”
5. Find people who have the right attitude. “Make sure when you’re looking for the right people that they have a positive mental attitude. There’s nothing as frustrating as working with people who don’t see the positive side of things. No matter how brilliant they are, their bad attitude will wear you down. If you find the right attitude, you can usually teach the rest.”
One final note on this before we move on to Part 3 tomorrow: keep in mind that finding the right people takes time. “Do not rush this process and settle for just anyone. Duplicating a part of who you are is serious stuff. […] You can’t settle for second best.”
ACTION
TODAY: At the end of the chapter in the book, White lists a few exercises to help us succeed at duplicating and at thinking about a few other things. Here’s an important one that you can do today: “Ask yourself this question: ‘What parts of myself make me the most crazy?’ Be clear on your weaknesses so you can identify them in other people as well. When you find the right person to duplicate a part of who you are, don’t be surprised if they also duplicate the not-so-good parts. Are you prepared for that?”
TOMORROW: Come back to read Part 3 to learn how to determine what to duplicate, and how.
Please share Part 2 of “Duplicate yourself” with someone who could use a little duplication, you can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Planning, Productivity, Time, Tools
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Duplicate yourself – Part 2
Duplicate yourself – Part 3
Duplicate yourself – Part 4
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 46 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Duplicate yourself – Part 1
— From Work Less, Make More: Stop Working So Hard and Create the Life You Really Want! By Jennifer White
Have you ever been so swamped with work that you wish you could clone yourself to get more done? Well, now you can.
How is this possible?!
In her excellent book Work Less, Make More, business guru and success coach Jennifer White states that you can (and should) duplicate yourself. But first, let’s get this straight: duplication is not delegation. “Delegating hinges on your finding the right person whose strengths are your weaknesses. A bookkeeper, for example, if you’re horrible with numbers. An assistant if you don’t have time for filing, copying and computer work.”
Duplication is not “finding the one person who is the exact replica of you.” Because, very likely, that person does not exist. You and your brilliance are unique, and White would not recommend putting your business or career into one person’s hands. That’s not effective, efficient or smart, and that is not duplication.
Duplication, the kind White is describing, is doubling, tripling, quadrupling a part (or several parts) of who you are—and thus your output in that area—without investing more of your time. This will enable you to free up time and space for you to dedicate to other things, whether professional or personal in nature, that you want to pursue.
“In order to duplicate, you must know yourself very well. You cannot just duplicate your abilities, but also parts of your personality. […] Successful duplication occurs when you find people who share similar qualities with you. Just as important, they share your brilliance.”
This last point is very important because these people will be taking over for you in certain areas, say, selling. If your clients are used to an upbeat, witty, funny you, then this person needs to share those same traits. You can hire someone who is quiet and knowledgeable, and who will share tons of charts and info with the clients to make a sale, but that is not duplication, that is just hiring another salesperson with a different approach and varied skills from yours. When duplicating yourself, your clients need to feel as is they’re dealing with you: the same chemistry needs to be there.
What are the parts of yourself that you need to duplicate? White offers the next set of questions to get started in figuring that out:
1. What do you do easily and naturally?
2. What do your customers pay you for?
3. What does your company pay you for?
4. What have other people said you’re really good at?
5. What activities energize you?
6. What consumes you? You know, the stuff that lights your fire.
7. What do you really want to do on your days off?
8. What qualities and skills do you see in other people that you know you have?
White points out that duplication can only be successful when you find people who are as good—or better—than you are. “Duplicating yourself requires that you leave your ego behind. It forces you to look at yourself and know yourself so well that you won’t feel threatened by someone who’s as good as you are.”
The question that naturally follows after this is: “if they are better than I am, why are they willing to duplicate me?”
To this, White responds with two points. First, “You bring some other incredible value to their lives that helps them become even better. You provide something they can’t get anywhere else.” And second, “You’re actually one step ahead of them because you understand that duplicating yourself comes down to finding people who are better than you are. So few people truly understand this and can see their own brilliance.”
So, how do you go about finding the right people to duplicate you? That is the topic for tomorrow. Stay tuned for Part 2!
ACTION
TODAY: Take a moment to answer the 8 questions above to figure out the parts of yourself that you need to duplicate. Think about your many personality traits. Think also about the ways and the style in which you approach things. What do you need to successfully duplicate? Preferably write down 10 areas for duplication. (Don’t let the thought of 10 areas overwhelm you, and don’t think that you’ll have to hire 10 people, in a subsequent post you’ll learn that technology can also duplicate you, so if you are not in a position to hire, that’s no problem, you can still duplicate yourself.)
TOMORROW: Come back to read Part 2 and learn more about the things you need to keep in mind for a successful duplication.
Please share Part 1 of “Duplicate yourself” with someone who could use a little duplication, you can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Planning, Productivity, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 23 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Minimal effort means avoiding work
— From 10-Minute Reflections: One Month Of Daily Exercises That Will Spark Growth In Your Business by Graham Binks
This book is a very quick read of daily exercises to make us think about business in a different way. The author, Graham Binks, is an expert in helping businesses get the best out of their technology investments. He has worked with numerous business leaders, who often ask, “How do we know we’re doing enough?” To what his answer is, “Start by making sure you’re not doing too much.”
Whaaaaaat?!
Yes. To optimize processes, you and your team need to be doing the minimal effort necessary. But please note that this doesn’t mean a mediocre effort at all—on the contrary—it means the best effort without wasting any of it. Thus, avoiding work that turns out to be unnecessary and wasteful, and that could be geared to other productive efforts instead.
Binks shares that when you are planning a successful outcome and think through the steps required in the process, you’ll naturally go from start to finish. And when you’re repeating work that someone in your team has done in the past, they can vouch for the steps taken previously.
“But if you haven’t perfected this kind of work (or your team hasn’t experienced it at all), there’ll be guesswork in the plan. And with guesswork comes extraneous effort.” In his experience, Binks has seen many plans that specified work that turned out to be detached from the critical outcomes of the project.
Thus, he offers a simple review exercise for you and your team “to make sure your projects aren’t wasteful.” This works best with projects when the planning phase is nearly finished—before the actual work starts—or you can apply it as a debriefing exercise on finished projects to see what will work best in the future.
Exercise: Being Minimalist
1. List the 10 project activities that took the most effort to complete in the following way:
#1 _________________ Rank___ Skip?___
#2 _________________ Rank___ Skip?___
Etc.
2. Above, rank these activities by their importance to the project outcome—highest contribution to lowest.
3. Starting with the lowest ranked activity, ask whether the project would have been a success if this activity had been skipped.
If the answer is “Yes!”, congratulations. You’ve found an activity that is not required on the plan. Take it out and save everyone time and energy. Then repeat the exercise with the next activity up the list.
Sometimes, what seems to be a simple exercise can reveal profound inefficiencies. Hope this helps optimize your projects and simplify your effort for a better outcome!
ACTION
TODAY: Think of a project you’re about to start or one that you repeat often. Go through this exercise to find the optimal path to completion.
FUTURE: As you’re planning for projects, or as you finish them, go through this exercise to make sure you’re not doing too much (avoiding wasteful efforts) and your project is running as optimally and as smoothly as possible!
Know someone who needs to optimize their projects? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Collaboration, Goals, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity, Planning, Productivity, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 19 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Communication Overhead
— From The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman
Business guru, Josh Kaufman, recalls working at Procter & Gamble on a project that needed the input and approval of dozens of people. He spent three months trying to put together a workable proposal due to juggling different ideas, arguments over different approaches, and people wanting credit without doing much work. And in those three months nothing else got done! Almost all of his time was spent on communicating with other members of the group.
“Communication overhead is the proportion of time you spend communicating with members of your team instead of getting productive work done.”
Kaufman says, “There’s a reason high-performing surgical teams, military units, and sports teams tend to be small and focused: too much time spent in communication and coordination can kill a team’s effectiveness.”
The larger your team, the more you have to communicate with each of its members to coordinate action. “As the number of people you work with increases, Communication Overhead increases geometrically until the total percentage of time each individual must devote to group communication approaches 100%. After a certain threshold, each additional team member diminishes the capacity of the group to do anything other than communicate.”
What’s the solution?
Work with the smallest possible team: “Studies of effective teamwork usually recommend working in groups of three to eight people,” says Kaufman. “You’ll be leaving people out, but that’s the point—including them is causing more work than it’s creating in benefits. Removing unnecessary people from the team will save everyone’s time and produce better results.”
Finally, Kaufman shares Derek Sheane’s “8 Symptoms of Bureaucratic Breakdown” which appear in his book Beyond Bureaucracy. They are indicative of teams suffering from Communication Overhead:
1. The Invisible Decision. No one knows how or where decisions are made, and there is no transparency in the decision-making process.
2. Unfinished Business. Too many tasks are started but very few carried through to the end.
3. Co-ordination Paralysis-Nothing can be done without checking with a host of interconnected units.
4. Nothing New. There are no radical ideas, inventions or lateral thinking-a general lack of initiative.
5. Pseudo-Problems. Minor issues become magnified out of all proportion.
6. Embattled Center. The center battles for consistency and control against local/regional units.
7. Negative Deadlines. The deadlines for work become more important than the quality of the work being done.
8. Input Domination. Individuals react to inputs—i.e. whatever gets put in their in-tray—as opposed to using their own initiative.
ACTION
TODAY: Do you work with a team? How big is it? Take a moment to think how can you break it up into smaller units/teams to be more efficient.
FUTURE: As you embark on new projects that require teamwork, think of ways in which you can make the teams as lean as possible.
Be a good teammate and please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
