Jason Womack

Meeting for lunch in Venice, Italy

Meeting new people is exciting. I do it as much as I can when I travel, when I race, when I work - even when I'm home at the local coffee shop or our athletic club. It seems that when I extend my hand in introduction, someone is there to share a conversation.

So, when Jodi and I had just one week until leaving for our presentation series in Venice, Italy in February, I decided to ask for a "meet up." According to Wiktionary, a meet up is an arranged informal meeting ( en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meetup ); so, we planned ours for Wednesday, the 18th of February.

Now, I have put the invitation to these out before, but always in American cities - and usually really, really close, like in Ojai, CA! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojai,_CA) Generally I wind up sharing a meal or a workout with a few of my friends who I've known for a while, but neither Jodi or I had a great big group of friends in Venice.

It started with a Tweet. From there a note on Facebook. Later on, an email between me and one person. Next, a "connection" on LinkedIn, and finally a phone call via Skype! And, we DID it! 4 of us met for lunch, in Venice!

 
Andrea, a productivity devotee in Turino (http://www.recuperandoiltempo.com), set the momentum going. He even invited HIS network to the lunch (mind you, he and I had never met, and he would have to travel 4 hours to get to Venice to have lunch with us!). Alex, a senior manager (http://www.strategievincenti.net)at with local manufacturer also took a good portion of his day to meet with us.

We met up for a quick conversation at The Bauer Hotel (*****, by the way!). That 30 minute discussion was enough for us to introduce ourselves, get to share some stories, and decide that "yes," we would all go and break bread together.

We walked to lunch, enjoyed another couple of hours together, and eventually bid adieu after a walk to the train station. I could go on and on about my experience over lunch that day, but I will share my 3 big takeaways from this meetup:

1) A stranger: Just a friend I have not yet shared a meal with. Something happens when a new friend picks his (or her) plate up, and says, "You've got to try this, here, just put some on your plate." (Thank you Alex!)

2) Opportunity: I gotta (and I mean I GOT TO) get out there. This was our first day in Italy, and it would have been very easy for Jodi and I to say, "Oh, I kinda got jet lag, let's not do this meet up thing..."

3) Follow up: I've got some to-dos that I'm still managing because of ideas and agreements we came up with over lunch that day! I'm SO glad I wrote them down!

 


Andrea @andreaaresca, Alex @alexreif, Jason @jasonwomack and Jodi @jodiwomack

How to make a difference...by yourself

I've got a copy, and hope you get one too!

This book, all about doing the Great Work, is a gem. Just pick it up, read a page or two, and you've got an idea - guaranteed!
Inspiring me this morning is a line I read on Page 37. In fact, as I read it, I reflected on a conversation I had with one of the managers I consulted in Las Vegas earlier this month; we discussed the role we have as facilitators of "honest conversations."
Looking around, especially this month, it's easy to see people performing at their best. With the Olympics acting as a constant reminder of goal setting, strategy, focus and commitment, I'm inspired to pick something and explore it in greater detail. That is exactly what Michael has done with this book...thanks, man!

Something else I'm going to explore in my notebook while flying today is this question: "What's the difference I can make?"

I'd love to get a group together - maybe next Friday, in Ojai - and discuss all of our answers to that question. Who's in?

the Detroit Declaration

I happened to open up to page 3A of the USAToday newspaper and read the article Haya El Nasser wrote about the revitalization of Detroit.
The effort by their social media organizers to make it into a city that won't just survive is phenomenal. With 8,000 fans of their www.facebook.com/DeclareDetroit page, they seem to be on to something! Most interesting to me is the "manifesto" (another word for promise?) they are rallying around.
I would love to present the conference I put together in Venice last week for this group. If anyone is interested, just give our office a call: 805.640.6401.

Two things I am thinking after reading this article:
1) We ARE smarter together. By joining interests, talents and ideas, we can make something that didn't exist a reality. The 20,000 website visitors are witnessing change happening!
2) It takes a real clear vision. Of the 12 principles of the manifesto, I am most impressed by the clarity of this one, "Be welcoming and embrace our diversity." I can see a whole social media campaign on just that one; simply ask every 5th grade teacher to ask students to submit a painting, picture, song, poem, story or photograph of what "be welcoming" and "embrace our diversity" means.

I would like to say a special thank you to: Kirsten Ussery, Nichole Christian, Carol Coletta, PJ Jenkinson, and Terry Duperon for making this possible.

What do we call this seminar and coaching we do?

[NOTE: This is in response to an email and a voice mail - from different soon-to-be clients - I received while working in Italy last week.]

Our Workplace Performance seminars and coaching programs are designed to enable our course participants with specific, customized, and sustainable strategies. These make it easier to work, innovate, and even get away from work...

You see, many of the people we work with are asking more of themselves than before. 24/7 availability, more good ideas than ever, and the ability to ACT on that thinking. At The Womack Company, our job is not to figure out how to DO their work...it is to figure out how THEY work, and to identify "release points."

Our coaches call this "removing moves."
In our research, we have discovered common issues people have in getting their work done. So, our seminars then share some tools and techniques people can use to relieve a bit of the stress, overwhelm and disorganization.

Of course, our coaching program only speeds up the process and really dives deep into the very root of enhancing and sustaining personal productivity.

#IDeA : You don't always want what you get.

Me: "Yeah, me too."
You: "You too?"
Me: "Uh-hu, I've got extra stuff lying around."
You: "What do you keep? What do you get rid of?"

Mastering workplace performance means a lot of things to a lot of people.

To some, it means being productive, effective and efficient enough to leave work at the end of the day and KNOW the right things got done. To someone else, it might be the key to such an awesome increase in productivity they can stay at work a little bit longer and get that much further ahead of “the game.”

Here is a question I hear from time to time:

"Why would anyone want to be a master at work?"

When I was young, my mom, my teachers and my coaches used to tell me, “Practice makes perfect.”

Well, now that I’m a little bit older, I’m much more prone to say, “Practice makes habit.” I had a mentor of mine (thanks Kevin!) tell me to test THIS theory: "how do you do anything is how you do most things."

Please, do not just take that advice blindly. Give me a call, and invite me in for two days of coaching. Side by side, we will study, question, assess and address the results you’re experiencing.

No, I don’t start looking at the actions, tasks, projects or long list of things you have yet to do; we start by acknowledging your results. Why? Because in the RESULTS are the HABITS.

As soon as we both understand the habituated (behavioral) processes you have perfected, then we can talk about the new results you’d like to achieve…then, we’ll identify the to-dos, the projects, and the requirements to get there.

This year is about starting new discussions. After we do that, we will have a new conversation based upon engagement, and ideas on how to improve your workplace performance.

Where's your (copy of) Mojo?

Marshall Goldsmith has done it again. His book, at last look #2 on the charts, gives a sense of urgency to those of us who are on the road of engagement.
Sitting here at LAX, on my way to Venice (three flights and 20 hours later), I am focusing on my OWN driving question. If you're reading this...please share yours.

What is the question you're gonna answer this year?

That "Internet" has all kinds of things to make it a bit easier

When I talked with a buddy of mine about growing up in a restaurant (lots of "productivity" lessons there!), he said I should visit the "no time to cook dinner" page.

As a kid, I remember learning about all kinds of things that happened "behind the scenes." It's probably why I'm so interested not so much in what people do for a living, but how they do it.

Here is one of my favorites! If you have a few minutes, treat yourself to some new ideas!

What is a practical question...one that determines how I use my next 15 minutes?

More and more of my work is done at the "ground level" of productivity.
Just last week, I worked with 4 clients who all expressed different "organizational and productivity" needs.
1) We studied "email inbox management" one day. The important issues where:
- what to do WITH emails she needed to refer to vs. follow up on at some predetermined time in the (near to far) future;
- what to do ABOUT the emails that are action-oriented, whether a short/immediate or longer/researched answer is needed.

2) The next day, we studied leadership traits and communication styles. During a 6 and 1/2 hour discussion, with three confirmed meetings/teleconferences to sit in on, we uncovered 4 new habits to practice for the rest of February. A major ah-ha this day: Each phone call meeting needs to be completely processed to capture actions, waiting fors, follow ups, and new knowledge.

3) Day 3: There are three kinds of emails some people get, and when they are blended in the inbox...things get weird. Before you ask me what the "three kinds" are, take some energy this week to focus in on what you have staged there in-motion. Chances are, you have just a few "kinds" of things to manage. Separate them, and you'll see how much more focused you are through the day (and relaxed at the end of the day).

4) "Stuff" attracts more "stuff." I spent day four working side by side with a senior executive assistant, as we processed EVERY SINGLE piece of paper, notebook page, binder, book and file on the desk. When I left, she had a list of 23 actions, three clear desk spaces, and a fully-functioning bookshelf.

I recently read (via my Garmin, Audible account, and a long drive from Marin County to my home in Ojai, CA) this wonderful book by Johah Lehrer: "How We Decide."
What did I realize during this coaching? And, how does it connect to the book?

+ We need to make more decisions now.
+ We need to track those decisions.
+ We need to start new conversations.
+ We need help from each other in creating habits that stick.

All good things...

Training and eating ... The more objective, the clearer the results

Every time I visit New York, I'm amazed at how they advertise just one aspect of food nutrition: Calories per item!
What would you choose, if you knew a little bit more about what was "in it."

Oh, and this isn't just about food: it's the meeting you were invited to, the book you just bought, the email you're about to open, the magazine you subscribed to, or what you're about to say yes when your child asks that next question.

Speed isn't just about going faster

Working with the vice president in finance yesterday reinforced this idea:
Speed isn't just about going faster.
It IS, however, about moving through the productivity cycle as we have researched it.
(1) Relax,
(2) Have an idea,
(3) Consider an action step,
(4) Execute on that action,
(5) Assess the value of that action,
(6) Ask yourself: "Did I enjoy what I did?"

Of course, this is a simple re-engineering process that begins with what we believe is the most important question to start with!
Here is just one tip you can use (if you use a BlackBerry) to go from steps 3 to 4 with less thinking/effort and fewer moves.

Please, leave your tips (for any of the 6 steps listed here) in the comments section below!