The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran & Michael Lennington: How to stop wasting your time and your years
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\nAbout the Book
\nThe guide to shortening your execution cycle down from one year to twelve weeks
\nMost organizations and individuals work in the context of annual goals and plans; a twelve-month execution cycle. Instead,\xa0The 12 Week Year\xa0avoids the pitfalls and low productivity of annualized thinking. This book redefines your \u201cyear\u201d to be 12 weeks long. In 12 weeks, there just isn\u2019t enough time to get complacent, and urgency increases and intensifies.\xa0The 12 Week Year\xa0creates focus and clarity on what matters most and a sense of urgency to do it now. In the end more of the important stuff gets done and the impact on results is profound.
\nTurn your organization\u2019s idea of a year on its head, and speed your journey to success.
\nSource:\xa0Amazon.com
\nAbout the Authors
\nBrian Moran, President and Founder of The 12 Week Year, has 30 years of expertise as a corporate executive, entrepreneur, consultant and coach. His background as a corporate executive combined with his experience as an entrepreneur positions him with a unique skill set to help individuals and organizations grow and prosper.
\nBrian\u2019s corporate experience includes management and executive positions with UPS, PepsiCo, and Northern Automotive. As an entrepreneur he has personally launched and led successful businesses and been instrumental in the success of many others. In addition, he has consulted for dozens of world-class companies.
\nMichael Lennington\u2019s most important roles are as father, husband, and most recently grandfather. When he is not with his family, or working, his favorite personal pursuits include attending music festivals, downhill skiing, and sampling good Kentucky Bourbon.
\nMichael, has been a consultant for most of his adult life and has worked in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and The Middle East. Currently, he spends his professional time coaching his entrepreneurial clients, writing about leadership and business execution, and building simple tools for people seeking to accomplish more.
\nSource:\xa0Amazon.com
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\nBIG IDEA 1 (5:52) \u2013 Execution is the problem.
\nThere\u2019s a quote from the book that says \u201cexecution is the single greatest market differentiator.\u201d Your ability to execute your ideas is what will set you apart. A lack of ideas is not generally a problem in the organisation, it is the ability to execute on the ideas and what is most important.\xa0
\nWe procrastinate and delay, but there\u2019s less room to hide in a 12 week year, so every day becomes more important. Each day you have to focus on the key activities. We also have a tendency to re-do the plan before we\u2019ve ever really executed it.\xa0 Unless you\u2019ve actually executed the plan, you\u2019ll never know how good it is or not.
\nBIG IDEA 2 (7:31) \u2013 12 months is too long.\xa0
\nThe book says that the annual process limits performance. Most of the year, people are behind and waiting to catch up and then scrambling at the end. We need to rethink the year and think of it as 12 weeks instead of 12 months. This creates urgency and the need to focus on fewer things.
\nThis then allows you to focus on executing the core activities and creates more clarity on what you say yes and no to. The deadline is also more visible with 12 weeks. This approach creates more productivity and helps you keep control of your time. Because if you don\u2019t have control of your time, you don\u2019t have control of your outcomes.
\nThey talk about three types of time blocking;
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- The strategic block \u2013 three hours of uninterrupted for pre-planned, strategic and money making activities. \n
- The buffer block \u2013 emails, finances, making calls and the \u2018stuff\u2019 required in running a business. \n
- Breakout block \u2013 three hours interrupted time doing anything other than work. This is your thinking, reflection and play time. And it\u2019s not the same as your weekend \u2013 this happens during your working week. \n
Making a strategic plan for the weeks forces you to make decisions on priorities. You\u2019re also forced to think about when you are at your best and planning the right block for the right time of day.
\nBIG IDEA 3 (12:26) \u2013 Three principles and five disciplines.\xa0
\nThree principles in this book are accountability; ownership and focus on the time for continuous improvement. Commitment; keeping the promises that you make and staying true to your intent and greatness in the moment; making every day count.
\nThe five disciplines that you need are vision, planning, process control, measurement and time use. Applying these principles and disciplines will allow you to achieve amazing results in less time.
\nLinks:
\nAlso listen to:
\nGetting Things Done by David Allen: why you need to stop using your brain
\nInfinite Game by Simon Sinek: Why playing to win will make you lose
\nWhen by Daniel H. Pink: How You\u2019re Not Spending Your Day the Best Way
\nAtomic Habits: environment architecture and crisps at airports
\nFind out more about [ r e a d t r e a t ] events here:\xa0www.readtreat.space\xa0
\nMusic By:\xa0If I Were King \u2013 Instrumental Version Song by Low Light
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