Execution Tip: Think about your “Activity Alignment”

by Dr. Brian Higley

December 26th, 2009

Good Activity Alignment is achieved via constant attention to how well the completion of simple “Yes-No” Activities (small activities that are either “done or not done”) help with the achievement of your SMART Goals (the specific, measurable steps toward fulfilling broader Objectives).  An indication of good Activity Alignment is reduction in two major barriers to Execution Excellence:

  1. fewer instances of individuals “feeling busy” with a lot of activities without actually helping to achieve their SMART Goals and
  2. fewer instances of wasted time, energy and revenue spent on daily activity that does not lead to goal achievement (Yes-No Activities that are not powerfully aligned with SMART Goal achievement in observable ways).

For example, if one exhibits Activity Alignment in relation to an SMART Goal like: “Take out all trash every Wednesday before 9AM” via Yes-No Activities aligned with that SMART Goal (e.g. “Empty the trash in one waste basket in a particular room”), there is often: (a) less time spent thinking about all the barriers to doing so (e.g., How to avoid taking emptying a trash can by focusing on other activities) and (b) less energy spent on activities not aligned with the SMART Goal in question (e.g., making the case that emptying one trash can is impossible or unfair so others support the idea of avoiding the activity).

Obviously, such lack of Activity Alignment is a major block to Execution Excellence; it is critical that time, energy and money be focused on Yes-No Activities that actually help achieve SMART Goals (rather than on simply identifying all the barriers to doing so and/or trying to get others to affirm that helpful activities are not possible/reasonable to perform).

  • NOTE TO THOSE USING THE MISSION FULFILLMENT SYSTEM A common indicator of high levels of Activity Alignment are fewer instances of feeling as though SMART Goals are impossible to achieve on deadline.  For instance, if one exhibits the ability to align their activities with “Take out all trash every Wednesday before 9AM,” there is less energy wasted on wondering if it can be done and more focus on how to address possible barriers to doing so.  Your system indicates strong Activity Alignment via high  Personal “Go-Active %” scores (scores of 80 and above) on your Progress/People subtab.  This subtab is located to the right of the Progress/Items subtab on the upper left-hand side of the main Progress Tab (Personal Go-Active % scores are located on the far right-hand side of the screen, and are displayed as bar graphs).
  • FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT ON THE MISSION FULFILLMENT SYSTEM: Click here to for more information and click here to sign up.

FINAL NOTE: If you were linked to this article by a video or email, please return to that link and proceed with any other instructions that you deem helpful.  For more Execution Excellence tips and tools visit our site at: www.excellencetree.com

Article Filed under: CACE GAMEE Scorecard Tips

 

 

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