The Monday memo is food for thought to fuel your week.
Hi everyone,
Underneath any successful endeavor you will find that there are a limited number of fundamentals, and someone is focused on doing them well and consistently.
The funny thing is that after someone is successful, the first things we notice are not the fundamentals, but the flash, the flair, the distinctive and unique flavors and twists that people build on top of them. But look underneath all that and you will see that all that originality is always built on less flashy, but solid, fundamentals.
Fundamentals are like the foundations of a building. They are not the first thing you notice, and often you can’t even see them at all, but without a solid foundation, no building would be able to stand.
For example, one of the basic fundamentals that lies behind a lot of the successes I’ve had in life is running a good meeting. The basics of running a good meeting are not that difficult or complicated:
Have a clear and compelling reason to meet.
Invite the right people.
Design an agenda that makes a good use of people’s time, and moves things forward at a steady pace, without feeling too rushed.
Keep things moving during the meeting.
Make sure everyone has a voice and an opportunity to be heard.
Pay attention to the energy in the room, and shift the plan if the situation requires it.
Start and end on time.
None of these are super-difficult in themselves, although managing them all at the same time is not simple or easy either. Running a good meeting is not something you can do on autopilot and it requires your full attention.
But if you run good meetings, people are more likely to come. And if people come to your meetings, then more things move forward, more decisions get made, and more things get done. There is a clear through-line between good meetings and good results.
The ability to run a good meeting is a fundamental. It’s not flashy or trendy, and by itself it doesn’t count for much. It won’t get you a lot of attention, it won’t get you five-star reviews, and it won’t get you promoted. But it matters. It matters a lot. And it’s foundational to many other kinds of success.
Exercise.
Here’s your exercise for the week. Think about your work, your discipline, your craft, your creative practice. What are the fundamentals that are foundational to success in your domain? Make a list, like the list I made here about what it takes to run a good meeting.
Now look at your list, and focus on doing those things well and consistently before you do anything else. I bet you will pretty quickly notice a change for the better. Try it and see what happens.
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