Workplace Multiplier by Tola Akinsulire

Friday Edition: November 29, 2024

Welcome to the Workplace Multiplier newsletter. Published every Tuesday & Friday, we discover something crucial to help us on the way to winning at work and in life.

Bringing Out Your Next Best Ideas

A while back, I read the book "Managing for the Short Term" by Chuck Martin.

At a point, he shares data from a survey conducted in 1985 by Harvard Business Review on the strategic planning process.

The executives and managers interviewed thought 5-10 years is not long-term enough to accomplish strategic goals such as competitive advantage.

Consider that with a 2002 survey in which executives now consider 2-5 years long-term.

Short-term for most of them is 90 days (44%) or at most 1 year (28%). About 16% consider 1 month the new short-term.

It simply means that we need to come up with fresh ideas faster.

So, how do you do that?

I have two practices.

The first is detachment.

Now and again, I go out for a 30-minute walk in the afternoons.

I live in a commercial city so I am not walking in a quiet environment.

It's filled with cars honking, bikes roaring, people talking and...you get the gist.

Because I am detached from my workspace, I am open to new perspectives.

Now and again, I come back from the walk with a fresh idea.

The second is displacement.

Maybe this is something I picked up from David in Psalm 23.

He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength - verses 2 & 3a.

Playing ocean sounds with birds and animal sounds has a way of taking me to peaceful places.

Nature renews and this is one of the ways it does for me.

If I can't be with nature, listening to nature is the next best way for me.

It might be unnerving for you but it works for me.

It doesn't have to be for a long time.

I just search for YouTube videos and voila "I'm in business."

Now it's your turn to get your next fresh ideas.

As always.

Keep Multiplying what you have been given by God in life.

Tola Akinsulire

I am a Workplace Multiplier.

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