STOP!

Deciding what to stop doing is more important than planning what to do…

So Much to do!

Similarly, in Blue Ocean Strategy [Harvard Business School 2006] Kim and Mauborgne describe how great companies stopped doing things that their business sector thought were essential: this enabled them to provide a customer offering that completely differentiated itself from the competition. Examples you know, include Direct Line, who did away with insurance brokers, Cirque du Soleil who created a unique stripped down circus experience and Southern Airlines [the first low cost model] who stopped meals, seat choices, and lounges to major on price, service, and speed [the things people really wanted].

In your organisation, look around and see what could be eliminated as a time waster or a cost. Collins points out that the real purpose of budgeting is not to minutely revise the suppliers list or ration usage – it is to radically decide what should be funded and what should not. Obviously, if your clients are happy to receive email why spend a fortune on a printed letter – few people now have printed bank statements. For yourself, remember that the biggest time-thief is email and social media, and they do not need to be checked every 15 minutes or even every hour.

Carmichael & Gavett wrote in HBR last year that there were 21 things we could and should stop doing [https://hbr.org/2015/01/things-to-stop-doing-in-2015].

Read it, it is thought provoking: here is one on their list that is based on clear evidence. Stop believing in, and trying to multitask. The evidence shows that no one can multitask effectively – we all [even the women] ‘task switch’ and in the process reduce our effectiveness significantly. So, learn to focus on one thing at a time and do it well. You will save time and improve the quality of your output.

Here is my favourite on the list: stop using horrible Powerpoint presentations. If you need to be told what to do instead and you haven’t done so already, read Talk like TED by Carmine Gallo [St Martin’s Press 2014].

So start a stop doing list today – it’s worth it.