While many individuals and organizations are great
at creating “To Do” lists – and continually adding to them – most of us are not
very good at taking things off the list.
It makes no sense when you think about it for even a moment. Management guru Peter Drucker once said “If
you want to start something new, you have to stop activities not worth the time
and effort.”
A “Stop Doing” list can be powerful at the
strategic, operational, and personal levels.
At a Strategic level, you should evaluate your
programs in terms of the Mission Impact they are making. This is why having metrics at the “mission”
level is so important. If you want to
add programs, then maybe there are some you need to end. This can be unpopular with some
constituencies, but if you truly want to leverage your resources for maximum
impact, then it can be the right thing to do.
At the Operational level, many organizations waste
a lot of time with legacy standard operating procedures and no one even
remembers why they are done. (It reminds
of the story of the monkeys & the cold shower which you can read
here.) Ask “why are we doing this,” “is
this really necessary,” “can we stop doing this?”
At the Personal level, I recommend using a “Delay
List” as a step toward a “Stop Doing” list.
When I have “to dos” that look like suspicious candidates for the “Stop
Doing” list, I just put them on “Delay” for a while. Often they become irrelevant after a
while. As Stephen Covey says, we have to
discern what is really important – not just what seems urgent at the moment.
Stop Doing the less important activities so you
can have more time and resources to focus and make even more of a Mission Impact.
For more
ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog
and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com You will find free resources you can
download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at
no cost. You can also check out my book,
Mission Impact: Breakthrough Strategies
for Nonprofits, and buy it if you are interested. And you can follow Sheehan Nonprofit
Consulting on Facebook.
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