Even if profits are up. Even if your boss loves you. Even if your investors are chanting your name in the streets. Your job should never be easy.
That’s because when you view your job as easy, “Status Quo” is your middle name. Complacency sets in, and when the market changes, you’re left only with tales of yesterday’s success.
But when you view your job as a challenge (not necessarily as hard), you figure out how to make things better. You search diligently for the source of your problems, and you find solutions to fix them.
I realize that with the current economic climate, finding challenges at work probably hasn’t been a problem for most. But once you’re in the challenge mindset (either by choice or by necessity) it’s important to focus that energy, because without focus, challenges quickly turn into frustration.
To stay focused, I regularly ask myself these three questions:
1. What am I learning, and how am I using my new knowledge?
It’s not enough to subscribe to 25 of the hottest blogs or be involved in 15 Twitter chats. What’s important is analyzing what you’re reading, figuring out what lessons are salient, and applying new knowledge. When you finish reading about Chris Brogans amazing PF Changs experience, (in which the waitress warmed his coffee mug) it’s easy to think “that was nice” and close the browser. It’s a challenge to find three little things you could do to make your customer experience better (e.g. warming the mug). It’s even more of a challenge to implement those three little things.
The challenge: gain general knowledge, form a company-specific idea, and see it through to real-world implementation.
2. What am I doing that’s inefficient, and how can I become more productive?
Sometimes increasing productivity is as simple as creating an email signature. Other times it’s as involved as creating a private social network to mange collaboration across the firewall.
Seth Godin writes this about productivity:
Wealth is created by productivity. Productive communities generate more of value.
Productivity comes from innovation.
Innovation comes from investment and change.
The challenge: finding an appropriate place to invest energy and create the innovation that’s needed for productivity.
3. How am I building relationships with my coworkers?
Unless you’re a freelancer, you most likely have to work with a team of some sort at work. Part of the challenge of making your product or service better is making your collaborative efforts better.
It’s widely accepted that teams that know each other better produce better results. When you know your team, you know what each person is good at and what each person struggles with.
The challenge: discovering the strengths and weaknesses of each of your coworkers, and finding a way to leverage everyone’s unique skills for the benefit of the team.
What do you do to stay challenged, and/or focused in your challenge? I’d love to hear about it.
-Andrew
Related Posts
No related posts were found, so here's a consolation prize: 3 Marketing Strategy Mistakes to Avoid (Guest Post).
keywords: Business, Challenge, Innovation
