6 Ways to Harness the Magic of Growth Routines
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New Giveaway!!
20 free books!!!
Leave a comment on this post by Dr. Alison Eyring to become eligible to win one of twenty complimentary copies of her new book, Pacing for Growth. (Deadline: 3/18/2017)
6 ways leaders harness the magic of growth routines:
The most successful growth leaders wisely use routines to get more done. Whether it’s a daily run, a daily shop-floor walk and talk, or a weekly chat to customers; they focus on what’s important and then create routines to make it happen.
Growth routines create new habits and ways of thinking. Here are a few simple ideas to help you harness the power of growth routines:
- Identify the most critical new attitude or way of thinking that your growth strategy requires and then create a simple routine to turn it into a habit.
- Identify critical stakeholders who will play a role in executing your growth strategy. Create routines that bring their perspective into your thinking or increase positive interactions with them. Sometimes customer boards serve this purpose well. We work with a payments company whose employees volunteer to act as brand ambassadors who visit merchants to observe them and learn about their experiences with payments.
- Create a simple routine to build outside-in thinking. For example, my company uses Facebook@Work and we’ve created a special group to share news about our customers and their industries. We invite customers to share content for this app, too.
- Create a simple routine to bring customers into your innovation process (yes, we’re talking about customer-aligned innovation). In my firm, we regularly cocreate new services with our customers.
- Less is more! Prioritize your routines and decide how many you can absorb and utilize. Manage the set like a portfolio. Once a routine is habit, try out another one. But don’t move on until the routine is embedded. Really embedded.
Give each routine a few tries to see if it can work.
What routines have made a difference for your leadership, team, or organization?
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20 free books!!!
Leave a comment on this post by 3/18/2017 to become eligible to win one of twenty complimentary copies of Dr. Alison Eyring’s new book, Pacing for Growth.
***International winners will receive audio versions of Pacing for Growth.
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About Dr. Alison Eyring
Growth expert and endurance athlete Alison Eyring, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Organisation Solutions. She works closely with global and regional executives from Fortune/FTSE 500 and some of the world’s most innovative high-growth companies on leadership and growth. A global thought leader on building organizational capacity for growth, she is Adjunct Professor at NUS Business School. Alison is the author of Pacing For Growth: Why Intelligent Restraint Drives Long-term Success, Berrett-Koehler 2017.
Follow @DrAlisonEyring
Learn more about @IntelligentRestraint on facebook.
Great post. I heard once that the most critical thing to learn from people who are excelling is not necessarily what their “to do” list is, but rather we must learn how they think and process. I believe this post hits on some great content that opens our eyes to how growth oriented people think.
“Prioritize your routines” – great advice and often overlooked during the execution phase of any behavioral change!
Thank you for this article, and the opportunity to win a free copy of your book. I would be delighted to read it.
Thank you for the tips. As a leader, I think we all struggle with prioritizing!! But I think we do need to put what’s most important to drive results at the top of our list daily !! I’m personally going to reevaluate my routines and make some adjustments.
I had two thoughts as I read. First, never underestimate the importance of ‘really embedded’. More importantly, this sounds like a call for lean thinking with your customer / user groups. I’m intrigued. Thanks for insight into your book, and the opportunity to win it.
Nice. Reposting you again!
I’m definitely interested in this information.
Among the breadth of leadership philosophies and literature in the marketplace, your approach infuses sustainable change – a key concept missing from most! Expect great impact from this refreshing, intelligent discussion.
I would say that I’m a creature of habit and love my daily routines so this book seems like it’s right up my alley. Would love to learn more about prioritizing some very simple ‘growth routines’ to excel in my daily work. Thank you for the opportunity to win a free copy of the book.
Prioritize and habitize. Powerful stuff. Thanks for another great post.
Great info!!!! I’ve found that while working in teams it was helpful to have a weekly routine meeting to discuss what was working and what wasn’t. This encouraged the group to make adjustments to their “to do” list and increased productivity.
Introducing growth patterns, routines, or habits through mini-cycle of change management, improvement, or adding value makes a lot of sense. What seems to be missing, perhaps due to a 300-word limit, is disposing of growth routines that have run their course. Patterns that no longer add value become superstitions — obligatory activities without purpose or value. Even growth patterns can become obsolete, so we should consider how to effectively retire them when appropriate.
Good morning, Dan,
This book sounds like a very interesting read! I created daily routines at work to keep myself and my team organized and the work prioritized. Our 15-minute daily morning meeting when the team is all together keeps our focus on what we will accomplish each day. At the end of the day, I review my calendar to see what is ahead for the next day and the rest of the week. I can’t wait to read more about the growth routines that Dr. Eyring has scribed.
Great info!!!! I believe having a simple routine allows for productivity without being overwhelmed by too much at one time. It allows for growth because it’s easier to recognize what’s working and what isn’t.
VERY interesting daylighting of a concept that many do unconsciously. Thx for identifying it. Abigail
As I have evolved, routines have become critical to successes in both my professional and personal life. Creating routines for others to influence consensus is an interesting concept.
Good notes and views on the post, even though am skeptical on the point regarding the outside-in thought, given that we create our experiences inside-out and that really matters, being on our own or within the group.
An interesting post with emphasis on changing focus on customets!
I am quite impressed with an idea of customers’ involvement in your innovation process. This is the way you enhance the value of customers in your business & it’s future growth. Customers’ Feedback is essential in bringing the desired improvement in the basic product quality with an outastanding service delivery.
A good technique to bring competitiveness with an edge!
I like the reminder to not try and it all at once. Take on manageable change and once some habits have formed expand the circle of change.
Most businesses are run based on a series of routines. To harness the routines and show the power in finding the best ways to do things, then replicating it – you create an environment in which all employees can thrive!
Helpful post. I wholeheartedly agree that routines in all areas of life–personal and professional–are essential to meeting goals. Routines around self-care; connecting with people; investing in our learning; developing new habits all make a difference. Thank you.
Leaders need to be consistent along with unprecedented levels of transparency. Leaders need to have integrity and be committed to their word. Leaders need to build credibility and trust, and never operate as egotistical bullies.
I connected with #1 right away! A new attitude or way of thinking is crucial. Having the proper mindset leads from simple routines to habits. A routine that I believe has helped our organization is consistent and constant communication. We’ve structured agency newsletters that go out every other week. It’s predictable and constant and I believe that many in our organization appreciate it!
Habits are powerful behaviors reducing mental application and increasing efficiency. Thank you for sharing.
This connects to what we are doing with our staff right now. We are trying to instill a growth mindset in them so it also can be instilled with their students.
I once worked for a leader who was very adept at #2, though at the time, I thought he was just socializing and wasting time. I later realized that by walking around and talking to people — his key stakeholders — he was actually keeping his finger on the pulse of the organization, which allowed him (and his group) to get ahead of potential issues before they cropped up. Point #5 resonates with me — don’t move on until the routine is REALLY embedded. Otherwise it just turns into another abandoned process and not a routine. Great article!
Great article! Old habits die hard and these would be great habits to make into old ones! 🙂
Your concept of “prioritizing your routines” is exactly what our team is working on so that we may see improved results in a more timely manner. I believe that this is an area that all leaders need to identify and work with their teams to map out which processes require urgency to successfully move forward. This is the key to being successful and reducing burnout. It is great to be able to celebrate the WINS as a team versus coming together and continuing to speak about the same issues at hand, without a concrete plan in place to start accomplishing each goal one at a time! Thank you for this great article!
I apply the “Yellow Light Flashing” concept when reviewing the ongoing work of my associates – a version of “stop, look and listen”. If I observe someone performing a task in a different way than I was trained, learned or developed; or if I observe someone arriving at a different creative result than I would have pursued — the yellow light is flashing. My first response is “I have something to learn here” before I allow a glimmer of doubt, critique or correction to appear. Works wonders!
Great article. Could also be titled under Time Management.
#3 really stands out to me. Creating special groups, including those outside of the common management and business groups in an organization brings insightful perspectives if they are facilitated by informal leaders that have positive influence on their peers. Facts about the work we pursue is good although helping the individual members see their part in the story makes believers.
I can’t wait to read this book!
I’ve heard for so long that priorities dictate reality. Learning to do a few things really well is always better than trying to do everything. Eager to check out this book!
6 ways leaders harness the magic of growth routines – did I miss # 6 I only see 5
Excellent post, #5 really hit home for me. I’m always ready to move on to the next thing, even if the rest of the team hasn’t fully embraced the last change. Thanks!
Thanks another great post with positive ways to move change forward — baby steps, baby steps, baby steps fully embraced!
Dan,
I love this idea, because I love routines in general; they always help me get things done. One thing I will implement after having read this post and one previously is to analyze and pick a meaningful task to add to my routine that will benefit myself and others. Perhaps while I am thinking of this, I can also think of one thing in my current routine that doesn’t really serve much of a purpose other than making me feel like I “accomplished” something. I also like the idea of customer aligned innovation. On a personal level this is a great way to think as well because sometimes after being in a field of work for a while you think you know it all. To keep growth you need to always be open to fresh ideas and adaptable.
Thanks
Thank you Dan for providing the opportunity to win a free copy of this book. I am wrapping up a project this week that has proven to be quite successful. One of the many things I am hearing from my client is that communications has improved greatly within the organization. In large, due to what you talk about in this article.
This article is perfect timing for me as I am just about to begin a growth strategy and I don’t know where to start! The book sounds like it would be beneficial to me as well.
Love the growth routine idea. We all have them but is our daily routine helping to turn me into a leader? I’ll need to ask myself this every morning.
Love the ideas of building routines towards growth and celebrations.
Love these ideas, especially in concert with Dan’s earlier post about being .1% better (making incremental change for the better). Great way to normalize those small changes for impact!
Hey Katie…thanks for reading a previous post!! 🙂 Love how you brought this together.
Hey,
This is a great post! I think that creating a routine during the growth process is a very important tool for success. Even the best customer retention strategies can be hindered when you don’t have a proper routine.
Best,
Dennis
Love the leadership insights!
Thank you for the article! I regularly share your posts with my team and leadership peers. I also appreciate the tools that others have used like Facebook@Work. We are trying to find a better to communicate and share ideas/best practices both internally and externally and this might be something we should consider. Thank you!
I’m approaching a change of role, and thus new challenges as well as building a new team. this wisdom is perfectly timed to help me establish healthy and productive routines from the start. Getting them right early will reduce the need for those incremental changes others have mentioned (but not eliminate them!). Thanks Dan, and Dr. Alison!
Great tips! I like the note to make it a routine. This helps it to become a habit and second nature
As usual, as I struggle with something, you post an article that gives me fresh insight into how I might tackle it. Thank you and thank you for the opportunity to win this book.
Interesting ideas, would be keen to read more.
Thank you for this article, and the opportunity to win a free copy of your book. I would be delighted to read it.
Great information! #5 is the key. Too often in our desire to improve, we go into overload creating routines as if they all are the most important thing to do. When every routine is a priority, nothing gets done. What is the problem of practice that the routine addresses? Does the routine solve the problem? (Good question for leaders to ask themselves continually) Simple activity is not progress.
Thinking about the fifth concept the most. How often do we choose to move for the sake of adding a check mark on our list, when more intentional practice would be beneficial/necessary? How can I hold myself accountable for this intentional practice?
This sounds like a fascinating book; looking forward to reading it!
I am loving this blog. Thanks for the great inspiration.
I work to help others achieve their full potential by sharing weekly “Virtual Seminars” with 4-5 articles on professional development topics for them to read and find applications to help them grow. Your articles are frequently making the weekly reading list and this article will be one of the next ones shared!
This information works well with my natural reactions to ensuring that I manage my life both at work and at home. I will implement with an issue I am struggling with. Thank you.
For me growth is first about hearing what my customers (stakeholders) see as my areas for improvement. Feedback from them will help me overcome my blind spots and begin that process of outside-in thinking. Then working with them to developing habits that work for us both to first meet that need for them, which should secondly result in my growth.
Thanks.
These are great strategies! I would add that the hardest part is once these strategies are created, they must be executed in order to have value. While seemingly simple, this is what takes those creations out of the realm of strategy and turns them into actions. The gap between these two (creation and action) is many times a cavernous gap filled with insecurities, doubt, and the paralyzing “what if’s”. However, once this gap is crossed, the benefit of all that was created is HUGE!!!
It’s kind of small thing but what really changed my life is getting properly dressed for my job, although my company allow casuals as no client interaction are needed by a tech guy like me.
Also, it is really helped me to listen to the podcasts when commuting to and from work.
I wonder how these little habits changing my life, I can feel the change happening.
Great post, as always
Starting them is easy. Sustaining them in the face of emergencies and weariness, long enough that they “stick,” is the hard part. Thanks for the reminder.
This looks interesting.. I’d love a shot at a free copy! 🙂
I need to develop new routines based on priorities (I got stuck on busywork – my go to in uncertain times).
Many insights by Commentors are very helpful:
– the approach infuses sustainable change
– even growth patterns become obsolete – recognize and retire them when obsolete
– People who talk to many others at work may not “just be socializing & wasting time” – they may be “keeping pulse of the organization”
– and more by the minute : )
Great tips – I especially like the last one recommending a focus on one routine at a time before adding more.
Again, simple steps to focus on to achieve the desired outcome. I look forward to this perspective everyday as I work to both carve out success for my team and create an environment that they are excited to be a part of. The work is always constant, and the only constant is change.
Nice post! For me this seems to be the equivalent of forming a baseline or a foundation for the day. Taking the pulse of the people, surroundings, and duties for the day is a great “re-set” and can give you the focus need to feel at least partially in control! One thing that I do before anything else is check my in-box, which will tell me if there are any fires to put out immediately. I also try to greet people, so I can read if there is something going on that I need to reach out.
I would love to learn from this book! Goals without structure significantly reduce the odds of success. I am interested in the process described in this book.
I love this line – “In my firm, we regularly cocreate new services with our customers.” BIG fan of collaboration and bringing clients into as many conversations as possible. Thank you! Looks like a great read.