Feeling a Bit Short-Sighted?

Photo by USACE Europe District

Have you ever felt that you spend your workdays just putting out fires?

A 2005 article published in the Wall Street Journal entitled “When Meeting Targets becomes the Strategy, CEO is on the Wrong Path,” authored by Carol Hymowitz, talks about the risks associated with such “panic mode” business practices. According to Hymowitz, when quarterly targets and day to day tactical stuff becomes the focus “employee loyalty and teamwork erode quickly, along with innovation and risk taking.” Although quarterly objectives and daily goals are necessary, it is vital to be able to free yourself from the numbers and take sight of the bigger picture. Take risks. Try out new ideas. Lead. The more companies and employees focus solely on the short-term, the more longer-term success is placed at risk.

Mentioned also in Hymowitz’s article was a study done by the Hudson Highland Group in Chicago. The Hudson Group found that the biggest impediment to high performance in an organization is short-term focus. After interviewing almost 3000 managers, just 10% said they felt they worked in high-performing groups, while 38% said they worked in “non-performing groups.” These are the numbers to worry about.

Not only does short-term focus affect the group, it affects the individual as well. There’s nothing more frustrating than feeling like you’re constantly working, focusing on those urgent matters placed in front of you, and then realizing at the end of the day that you didn’t actually accomplish any of the things you really wanted to. The truly important items on your work To Do list shouldn’t suffer because of distraction by the louder, more tactical things filling your plate. You have to change the way you view your short-term objectives.

How can this be done?

Web-Worker Daily, a popular business site, gives a few suggestions. . . Use “start here” markers to remind yourself what projects and where exactly you should pick up work each day. End each day with a To Do list for the following day, laid out clearly in order of priority. Have specific workdays dedicated to tackling recurring tasks, for example, designate Monday’s as firefighting days in order to deal with weekend build-up.

Implement a few tactics like these into your life and, hopefully, you will soon be able to find that perfect balance between the short-term and the long-term in all your own business endeavors.

Learn more about overcoming career limiting habits by attending a Change Anything webinar, register here.