Dreams or goals?

I have recently had a conversation with my wife about plans, future and… dreams.
In one moment she interrupted me gently and asked:

Honey, how can you talk about dreams?”

I was confused and probably she noticed that, because before I said anything she explained what she had on her mind:

You’ve got no dreams, you’ve got goals.”

You have to stop the growth!

The problem won’t wait for its solution. It will bother you as long as it exists. And it won’t stop until you fix it. The impact of it will be bigger each day.
After identification of the root cause you know what needs to be solved. You know what have to be checked to confirm that your are going in the right direction.

What’s now? If the problem is big this is not always the moment when you start planning implementation of the solution. Why?
Problem won’t stop its growth the same day when you decide to solve it. It will still expand. And this where you should put your focus on in those first days. You have to stop its growth if this is possible!
If you don’t stop expansion of the negative impact of the problem you may start implement solution and before you will end, there will be nothing worth saving anymore.

All you need is... an agenda?

Many times I have heard the statement that “the more meetings, the less time for work”. I have to admit that I have said it aloud many times as well. Yet, I’m still organizing meetings and I’m still participating in many of them. And still sometimes it happens that I’ve got this sad feeling that a meeting I’ve just had was nothing more than the waste of time of all people who attended it.

“More meetings mean less time for work”. Is it true? Sometimes yes. When? In situations when you don’t see any progress after a meeting. When you are bored or exhausted after it.
When a meeting was only about talking and not about moving forward.

Improve. Measure. Celebrate!

You need to know what challenges are waiting for you. What you will have to face in near future. The hard part is to put everyone on the same page, to create common understanding of each aspect of the problem. That’s why it is so important to name the problem. To confirm that each person who wants to be involved in the solution is aware of every known characteristic, every information that can be important.

When risks and opportunities are listed, when everyone knows where they want to go, when the goal is shared, there are still things that have to be done before you get down to solving problems and taking opportunities.

Name the Problem

When a problem arises and you are surrounded with people who feel responsible for the work you are doing, there is a big probability that you will find many of them eager to help.
They will automatically start looking for answers and solutions.
There will be many hands willing to help.

But before you start working out the solutions to this problem, stop for a moment. Before this step there’s one more that has to be taken upfront. You need to recognize the problem. You have to know what you want to solve before you will start doing it.
You have to name the problem.
You need to know the questions before answers can be given.

Being comfortable outside your comfort zone

Recently I have written about feeling too comfortable in the place where you are right now. I also asked if it is possible that you are the one responsible for this situation.
It’s a good start when you know that you feel comfortable.
It’s better when you realize that you are the person who has control over this comfort.

What can be next?

Are you building comfortable place for you?

What about the last question from the previous article? Did you answer it?

Last time we were talking about places that are too comfortable for us. But maybe this is not a problem?
Maybe there are challenges around you? Maybe there are things that require learning? Things that take people out of their comfortable zones?
Maybe it’s not about a place, but about… you?


Maybe you are just letting those opportunities go away? Let them be taken by another person? Maybe you build this asylum around you with your own hand?


I understand that no one likes to be overwhelmed. Don’t want to do a job that should be done by someone else. Yet, if there’s no one who is responsible and the task requires someone’s attention and time, who would be willing to help? If there is no one who knows how or those who knows already have too much on their plate?

Maybe there are situations like this in your company? What are you doing then? Are you pushing them back?
Yes, it’s not your responsibility. Yes, you don’t have to do it. No one will argue with you about this.

On the other hand, you can. If you want to.


Maybe your comfort is not built on a solid ground where nothing changes?
Maybe you just don’t let in anything new?

Think about it.

If the place is too comfortable maybe there is something that you can do about it?