Experiments or goals? (And a book update)

Rushing and reflecting

This week's newsletter comes to you with a toddler on one knee and our 5-year-old daughter groaning on the couch. We seem to attract the kindy-cough whenever holidays come into sight. Perhaps it's our bodies' way of saying slow down!

At this time of year, you are probably in one of two modes.

Many people I speak to are hustling and rushing to get everything finished. Smashing out that final report. Cramming in a series of meetings. Pushing the team to get stuff done.

Or perhaps you've already mentally checked out, with the end-of-year celebrations creeping from morning tea into lunchtime and beyond...

Refocusing on the book

I love December's change of pace. I've had two Facilitation Foundations workshops to deliver. But apart from that, my mission has been book writing.

Three months ago I publicly committed to drafting a book manuscript by 1 December. 🥂 Within four short weeks, I had quietly put that commitment on the back burner! 😶

One of my mentors Lisa O'Neill likens writing a book to giving birth. It's all-consuming... but very rewarding... eventually. 😅

When my wife was pregnant, we downloaded an app that tracked your baby's growing size.

"Oh, this week it's a watermelon!"

Word count is the equivalent for a book. Non-fiction books range from 30,000 to 60,000 words. My word count sits at a paltry 3,463 words. [Edit: Since drafting this email, it's doubled. Yus!]

My brother visited recently and commented that "your book wall looks pretty dead." Harsh but true.

My daily goal is to write 500 words for the next 30 days. But if I can inch that up to 1000 per day then I'll have a draft manuscript ready by the end of January.

Experiments or goals?

Your team may be reflecting on your goals for next year. I know many of my clients are finding that tough right now, as they await direction from their new Ministers.

Goals are a helpful tool for predictable tasks. (Like writing a book, for instance. The parameters of that task are clear.)

Goals are less helpful when you're working in an ever-changing environment.

Instead of creating goals, try setting experiments. Goals are about achievement; experiments are about learning.

Some questions to ask yourself as a team could be:

What patterns are we noticing?

What are our hypotheses about this?

How can we test our hypotheses next year?

This framing helps you to bring curiosity to your reflection process. Reflection time can feel like a luxury amongst the end-of-year deadlines.... but it's always worth the investment.

Next week will be my final 2023 newsletter, as I focus 100% on book writing... and having a holiday!

Until then, go well!