GRASP the Solution
Before I give my thoughts on the book itself, I would just like to say – what a beautifully put together book! It is clear that a lot of thought has been put into the presentation of the book and it really makes it a joy to read. It combines good quality white paper with a great use of colour and attractive images throughout. You can tell that it’s been produced by people who really understand how good use of colour and imagery can help fix the ideas in your mind. And the text is a comfortable size, which is something that is important to me.
Now, I am going to have to throw some negatives in here as well. I hate to say it but I did find this 290 page book a bit too long-winded. It took me far too long to read with the result that I don’t feel like I can fully implement the system without working through it again. In my opinion it spent too much time trying to convince you that the system works, to the point where I was thinking ‘yes, I believe you, now please tell me what to do!’. I would have been happier with a short introduction outlining the whys and then a succinct description of how to follow the system. Because the book is laid out so well I really feel like that shouldn’t be the case, but I think what it comes down to is that there is just too much of it. Maybe that makes me a lightweight, but I like my business books to be short and snappy with something that I can take away and use straight away – this really should have been the case with this book, but instead I find myself really wanting to implement the system but not having a clear idea of how to go about it.
However, that said, I do think that the system it outlines is brilliant. I keep using the word ‘system’ and that is what it is. I love the fact that it’s offering a systematic way of achieving creative thinking – some people might argue that systematic and creative don’t go together, but I think that it’s inspired to offer it in such a way. It definitely strikes a cord with me because I am a systematic person – I’m an obsessive list-writer and get stressed if things aren’t approached in an organised way. So, the idea that I can use a system to unleash my creativity (which I’m sure is lurking there somewhere) is incredibly appealing to me.
What it has brought home to me is that when trying to think up ways to move our business forward (which is something I do very regularly) I always come up with the same ideas, which in itself can be disheartening. But, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t the only ideas, it’s just that I haven’t tapped into my mind to bring out the creative alternatives. The GRASP the Solution system is absolutely ideal for this.
So, in conclusion, this is a book that I did like, but with some reservations. Do read it, but don’t expect it to be a quick read. I would suggest making notes as you go along so that you’ve got the important points to refer back to. I really should have done that myself so I could be implementing the system right now.
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Feed Forward not Back
I went to a very interesting event in Truro this afternoon. It was run by Enterprising Women which is an organisation for women in business. After a couple of inspirational talks we were taught the Feed Forward technique.
Feed Forward is a technique to help you continue to improve – in whatever area you wish to improve. It’s actually very simple. Instead of asking for feedback on something you’ve done (and let’s face it asking for feedback isn’t always the easiest thing in the world), you think of something that you would like to improve and then ask people for suggestions. That’s pretty straightforward isn’t it?
We spent 45 minutes or so going round the room asking each other for suggestions on a particular subject. The idea was that we didn’t give loads of detail or enter into a discussion about it, we just said what we would like to improve in and everyone gave two suggestions. It was very interesting how everyone interpreted it slightly differently and gave completely different advice. I ended up with quite a list to consider.
So, I came away from the afternoon with a new technique and having met a load of new people. Good stuff!
In Praise of Slow
Whilst sorting through our books recently I came across it again and decided to give it another go. I have to admit I was slightly resistant to the concept at first – I’m running a business, so speed is important, right? But after a while I was completely hooked and the ideas really began to sink in.
So, what’s the book about? It’s all about the Slow movement – a movement to slow down on the basis that slower is better. It covers lots of angles – food, cities, exercise, medicine, sex, work, leisure and education. It’s an absolutely fascinating read, taking examples from all over the world to build up a picture of how many people are benefiting from a slower approach.
I am absolutely convinced that slowing down in my leisure time will benefit me. If I allow myself to take my time and not feel like I have to rush through everything in the evenings and at weekends, I should be a much more chilled out person able to take things in my stride and enjoying what I do more.
However, applying it to my work is another matter. I have a fear that if I slow down too much at work then that will have a negative affect on productivity. But, that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing I can take away from the book in terms of running a business – I don’t think I’m going to be taking catnaps at work but regular breaks to clear my mind will definitely be a good idea. It’s made me realise that I’m working flat out for most of the day, apart from a short pause for lunch. That can’t be good can it? In theory if I have regular breaks I should actually become more productive.
And, an important message from the book is that you don’t have to do absolutely everything slowly. There are occasions when speed is appropriate.
I highly recommend this book. It can help you slow down enough to think about how you do things and will definitely make you look at things differently.
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Day 1 of Autofocus V. 4
Would it be terrible of me to admit that I’ve been really enjoying trying out the Autofocus time management system? Maybe I should get out more… Last night I set it up at home and this morning I started putting it into practice at work.
I really like the methodical approach – I haven’t been wasting time trying to work out which of my many projects and tasks I should be working on next, instead I could just work through the list in order skipping anything that I didn’t have the resources at hand to tackle straight away.
So far I think this is the most valuable instruction: “Delete each task when you feel you have worked on it for long enough, and re-enter it at the end of the Active List if you need to do more work on it”. This meant that I could happily do some work on a project without feeling like I had to completely finish it – once I’d had enough I could cross it off and add it to the end of the list to come back to. Working on this basis I’ve made progress on some jobs today which have been sitting waiting for my attention for quite some time.
So, after the first 24 hours of using the system I’m feeling pretty good about it. I’ve been happily crossing things off all day and will be able to get straight back into it tomorrow. And of course I get to continue putting it into practice this evening with my home list.
Can’t resist a new time management system
It’s true, I just can’t help myself. Whilst looking through the resources section of the site to check that all the links are still current (a job I still have to finish) I got distracted by Mark Forster’s blog on time management and in particular his Autofocus V. 4 system.
Time management is one of my obsessions. I’m always trying to reinvent my approach to time management. I’ve got a couple of cracking books that I use – I see that I haven’t reviewed either of them yet, so will be adding reviews in the coming weeks. However, I’m always interested in trying something new. I find rejigging things occasionally can give me a new lease of life.
So, I’m going to have a go at the autofocus system. Actually, now that I’ve read about it I’m itching to start. Once I’m up and running I should have a list split into two sections – Backlog and Active List. I can then use the system laid out by Mark to work through the list in a focused way. That’s the theory at least – have a look at Mark’s instructions for a step-by-step explanation of how it works.
How do you divide your work time?
How does everyone divide their time between working directly on client stuff and business development? It’s a constant battle for me. If we’re really busy then the business gets pushed to one side and all my focus goes on client projects. But it’s important to work on the business too, isn’t it? Need to make sure that our own site is kept up-to-date (even more important now that we’ve launced the redesign!), that we’re actively working on attracting new clients, and that we keep on top of the endless admin.
I guess it all comes down to time management in the end. Organising yourself so that you know that you are keeping up with the important stuff. It’s not easy though. And stupidly I can feel guilty if I’m working on our site as if it’s not ‘real work’ and I should be doing something else. That’s silly isn’t it?
Fear and networking in Cornwall
We had a less than satisfactory networking experience last night. We went to a seminar/networking event run by one of our local business networks. These events are always pretty good with the seminar bit being really worth going to so we had decided to both attend. Big mistake. We’ve noticed it before but keep trying again – we’re just no good at networking if we go to an event together. We always end up talking ourselves out of it and leaving early.
As usual the speakers were excellent and we got a lot out of that, but as soon as it ended we went all unsure of ourselves and couldn’t bring ourselves to go and talk to anyone else. Pathetic isn’t it? I’d been all geared up to meet new people, but there is something about being with my partner that holds me back. On the way home we did the usual disection and came to the conclusion that I should go to stuff on my own – being on my own makes me much braver and I get a lot more out of it.
So a bit of a knock to our confidence, but I’m not letting it completely do away with what confidence I’ve gained over the last few weeks. I just have to go to more stuff and build on my networking skills. I know I can do it, it’s just unfortunately something that I have to do without my partner.
Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway
In theory this should have been just the book for me at the moment, with my goal to become more confident. There is undoubtedly a lot of good stuff in there and some techniques that I’ve read elsewhere and taken onboard.
However, for some reason I just couldn’t enjoy reading it. Over the last few years I’ve become much more open to ‘personal development’ but in my mind there is a distinction between personal development and self-help. I would say that this book definitely falls into the category of self-help. It put me off because it seemed to be for someone with very low self esteem who needed help in all aspects of their life, rather than for a reasonably confident businesswoman who needs a bit of help with confidence in certain situations (which is how I see myself). Maybe I need to open my mind a bit more and not cringe away from ‘self-help’.
If you really do feel that you have a self-esteem/confidence problem then you may well find this helps you, but if you’re looking for something to help you feel more confident at meeting new people when networking then I would look elsewhere.
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Still working on being brilliant
I’ve just completed the fourth week of my 90 days of brilliance plan and I’m still hanging in there. I started off by preparing very detailed weekly plans and sticking to them very closely, but that has tailed off somewhat. Instead I’m now setting overall goals for each week, giving myself much more flexibility day-to-day. I’m feeling pretty good after four weeks:
- We’ve launched our new website and are actively working on expanding it
- I’m feeling much more confident about networking and as a result more enthusiastic about going to stuff
- I’ve prepared a 28-day marketing programme and started it (today in fact)
- We’ve defined our vision for 5-years and are actively working towards it
- I’m reading on average one book a week
- I’m signed up for an SQL course which will be starting in a few weeks
It’s all good stuff. Tomorrow will mark the end of the first 30-day plan so it will be time to sketch out what I want to achieve in the next 30 days.
The Confidence Plan
I was immediately absorbed by it and made the mistake of starting it without a pen and paper to hand and then found myself champing at the bit to start writing my thoughts down. Now that’s a sign of a good book! I was impressed with how it started with laying the groundworks – encouraging you to start taking the smallest actions as taking action in itself can help build your confidence. The chapter on increasing your energy was also an eye-opener. The idea of dealing with the energy drains in your life – things that might seem insignificant but that drain a little bit of energy every time you notice them (like my leaving things piled up on the sofa – if I just tidied them away I’d feel so much better). Brilliant!
To be honest quite a bit of it is stuff that I’ve read elsewhere but in a ‘getting things done’ or ‘improving your effectiveness’ kind of way. Applying it to building my confidence was an interesting take. And of course the more times you read something the more it reinforces it in your mind. If you feel like you could do with working on your confidence I would highly recommend reading this book.
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