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The Do What Matters Most Mindset and Skillset

As mentioned in the introduction, Rob was a fighter pilot for 11 years in the US Air Force. Years ago, Rob was flying an F-16 over South Carolina during a night training mission. He and his wingman were flying at 20,000 feet, and their two jets were about a mile apart. That evening seemed unusually dark, and the only visual frame of reference was the narrow field of view in Rob’s night vision goggles. Everything seemed routine until Rob called for a hook turn—a simultaneous 180-degree turn going the same direction—to the left. As he called for the turn, a simulated threat popped up in the radar display over his right knee, which distracted him during the turn. Instead of focusing on the turn and watching his wingman, he shifted his focus to the radar that was displaying the threat. So much was going on in the jet, and without realizing it, he misprioritized what mattered most. That inadvertent mistake almost cost him his life.

What Rob didn’t realize was that when he started the 180-degree left-hand turn into his wingman (Rob was on the right side), his wingman mistakenly turned to the right. Without either of them realizing it, they crossed flight paths and missed each other by less than 100 feet travelling at a combined speed of over 1,000 mph.

This hook turn was supposed to be a safe turn in the same direction in which they never got closer than a mile from each other. Yet, so much was happening in the cockpit that Rob lost track of his priorities and nearly died. Unbeknownst to him, something similar was happening in the jet of his wingman. The wingman had a light on in the cockpit that distracted him from his priorities, and he quit watching Rob (the flight lead). In the debrief, while they watched the tapes, both of them breathed a huge sigh of relief when they realized how close they had come to dying.

There is a pilot term called task saturation. Task saturation is when a pilot has so many things going on in the cockpit that they are no longer able to process everything. When task saturation creeps in, the pilot starts to task shed (drop things from their crosscheck or cockpit scan) and can quickly lose track of their priorities and what matters most. For example, in the cockpit, there are six primary instruments that a pilot should always be aware of, instruments such as altitude and airspeed. Unfortunately, many pilots have crashed because they were task saturated, they misprioritized, and they lost track of their primary instruments—as Rob did that night.

Interestingly, it was not until the debrief that both Rob and his wingman realized how precarious their actual situation had been. During the hook turn, Rob and his wingman should have first ensured their flight path was clear rather than worrying about what was on the radar. Because they were both task saturated, which they didn’t realize until the debrief, they misprioritized and focused on the wrong task at the wrong time.

Likewise, the busyness of life ebbs and flows. Although task saturation is extremely obvious sometimes, at other times, a person may not realize they are task saturated and may be lulled into a false sense of complacency. Often it is when people step back to look at their lives (like Rob did in the debrief) that they realize how task saturated they have actually become—it is the act of stepping back that helps them see clearly. Task saturation is insidious, and the most dangerous form of it is when it is unrecognized—as it was with Rob and his wingman that night.

Can you relate to the feeling of task saturation? Surely at some point in your life, you have felt the stress of having so many things coming at you but only having a limited amount of time to accomplish them. When that happens, you likely know what we are talking about when we say that stress increases, performance decreases, and communication (especially effective communication) goes out the window.

The common adage in business now is do more with less. This approach to business is a perfect recipe for task saturation and everything that comes with it, such as lower productivity, higher turnover, and a decline in morale. Other feelings associated with task saturation in the workplace include being overwhelmed, upset, frustrated, and perhaps unsure of what you should be doing. When a person is task saturated, it is easy for them to lose track of what matters most. In other words, when a person has too many competing demands for their time, it is common for their priorities to slip through the cracks.

These kinds of performance and productivity challenges are becoming commonplace. It might be a stay-at-home team member who is burned out because they do not have a personal vision. Or, maybe it is a rising leader who has a solid mindset and habits but needs additional tools to do what matters most.

Imagine a pilot who is task saturated and is no longer paying attention to their primary instruments—the ones that will keep them alive. Imagine a leader or team member who is task saturated; how many of their “primary instruments” are likely to slip out of their crosscheck? This demanding environment is why the big three are critical to helping people focus on their primary instruments, or in other words, what matters most.

Phrases that you might hear others say (or maybe you have said them as well) as precursors to task saturation include “I really want to, but I’m just too busy,” or “I know I should do that, but I just don’t have time.” Sometimes, we wear that busy badge as a badge of honor—as if busyness equals high productivity. The truth is that when a person is not focused on their priorities and what matters most, it can negatively impact their productivity; their personal well-being, health, and relationships; and even their finances. In fact, being busy on the wrong tasks can do far more harm than good—we will explain more in Chapter 2.

There is a direct correlation between performance and productivity and someone’s level of task saturation. When task saturation rises, performance almost always decreases. When we talk about performance and productivity, task saturation is just the beginning. The most successful people are the ones whose team members know how to do what matters most and use their time on high-influence activities—in other words, activities that produce the highest return for the time invested. Although that seems obvious, why are time and productivity such enormous challenges for leaders and teams? As mentioned in the introduction, we set out to answer that question.

We have had the opportunity to see behind the curtains in hundreds of global organizations. A common denominator in almost every organization is that most people are busier than ever. It is common for people to feel like they are running from fire to fire or are endlessly chasing the next shiny object yet are never able to catch it. Leaders have an enormous opportunity to help their employees focus on what matters most and use their time on high-influence activities that contribute to the growth and well-being of the organization.

One of the most common questions is this: “Where should I start?” We believe the answer is that real transformation in performance and productivity requires both a mindset and a skillset. In other words, if a person or team wants to see a significant improvement, they must start with the right mindset and follow it by applying the skillset.

The Do What Matters Most Mindset

Developing the right mindset is a journey rather than a destination and almost always requires that a person first look internally.

The do what matters most mindset is described in many ways, and one that resonates with almost everyone is this:

Successful people have the willingness to get laser-focused on what matters most and the discipline to apply the skillset to achieve it consistently.

The do what matters most mindset is a shift away from reactionary living to proactive or intentional living. It is a willingness to make the time to schedule your priorities rather than letting your schedule dictate your every action. The do what matters most mindset shows the discipline to make the new skillset a part of your weekly habits. We like to define discipline as doing the right thing at the right time, regardless of how we feel about it. Discipline is an essential part of the do what matters most mindset.

Another way to look at this mindset is described in one of our favorite quotes attributed to St. Jerome:

Good, better, best. Never let it rest.
’Til your good is better, and your better is best.

It does not matter where you are today or what your starting point looks like. For a lot of people, life may be satisfactory in many ways. For example, you may be considered a “good” manager. However, the do what matters most mindset is you honestly asking yourself, What can I do to be a better, more productive leader or team member? What can I do to be a better parent, spouse, son/daughter, or brother/sister? No matter what our starting points are right now (even if things are good), this quote invites us to consider that we can all be better in different areas of our lives.

It is often easy to look at others and think about all the things they need to improve (rather than looking at ourselves). Instead of looking at others, the good, better, best quote invites each person to take responsibility for themselves. It means looking in the mirror and honestly asking questions such as What can I do to be a better member of my team? or What can I do to be a better leader? As soon as people start asking themselves these types of questions, their mindset opens the door to a skillset that can empower and enable them to grow dramatically. Performance, productivity, and well-being all begin to improve. The skillset is exponentially more powerful when coupled with a willing mindset.

One of the best examples to illustrate this mindset comes from a 92-year-old business owner in Kenya. During our workshop, he commented to the entire group, “My best is still ahead! I can’t wait to finalize my vision and goals and start doing pre-week planning!” Imagine the tone and culture this leader was setting throughout his organization. He clearly showed that he valued learning and growth. He certainly communicated that he was not complacent or comfortable with where he was—even at 92 years old! This type of mindset is what leadership looks like in any successful organization.

The Enemies of the Do What Matters Most Mindset

Our research shows that many employees and managers often react to the fire of the day—a symptom of task saturation. A transformational leader using this mindset will instead minimize the firefighting and proactively prioritize and plan what matters most. We said minimize because unanticipated fires always pop up; however, how many of those fires could we have prevented in the first place if we had used proactive planning? It is easier to proactively plan and stay ahead of the curve when we are not task saturated.

Another common mindset battle that we have all faced to one degree or another is that of complacency. In the fighter pilot world, complacency is known as the silent killer. Complacency should be as much of a concern for an organization as it is for a pilot. There is a long list of businesses that got too comfortable where they were and did not pivot when they should have: Blockbuster, Blackberry, and Kodak, just to name a few. Complacency can be recognized by phrases such as “I’m fine the way I am” or “Our current approach is working just fine.” The internal feeling associated with complacency is a feeling of comfort or a feeling of being in cruise control. The complacent mindset is dangerous because it often closes the door to the idea that there might be a better way. In our experience, comfort can be one of the greatest hindrances to forward progress because it can often invite the thought, I’m fine the way I am.

A third enemy of the do what matters most mindset is an emotion within each of us that we label as the cynic or the skeptic. Cynicism is a very natural emotion, and it serves as a filter or defensive barrier. Here is what we mean by a filter: What would your life be like if you believed everything you saw and heard every day? Chaos! The cynic or skeptic serves as a filter to wade through all the noise and block out what is not helpful. However, because the world is full of so much noise, many of us have let that natural emotion become a dominant way of thinking. When skepticism becomes dominant, it can quickly become one of the enemies of the do what matters most mindset.

What we invite you to do is acknowledge that internal cynic or skeptic and then set it aside for just a few hours while you read this book. In other words, be open to testing the power of these habits in your life. In the spirit of good, better, best, see what impact these habits might have on your productivity and performance.

The last enemy of the do what matters most mindset is procrastination. Procrastination is one of the great enemies of success. It is insidious and can creep into any person or culture. We have all experienced it to a degree, and it can be easily recognized in the words, “I’ll just do it later.”

Regarding procrastination, organizational theorist and author Robert Anthony wisely said, “Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait—the truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons, and results, and reasons don’t count!”

It is critical that you remain vigilant about how task saturation, complacency, procrastination, or cynicism shows up in your personal life and within your team. The do what matters most mindset continually reminds us to keep our guard up to avoid these issues and instead schedule our priorities rather than prioritize our schedule. The skillset of a personal vision, roles and goals, and pre-week planning works to combat the enemies of this mindset.

Henry Mintzberg, a business management professor and author, wrote a classical article titled “The Manager’s Job” in the August 1975 issue of the Harvard Business Review.¹ He captured the exact mindset we are describing when he said, “The manager is challenged to gain control of his or her own time by turning obligations into advantages and by turning those things he or she wishes to do into obligations. Free time is made, not found. Hoping to leave some time open for contemplations or general planning is tantamount to hoping that the pressures of the job will go away.”

It is easy to blame a busy schedule or all the competing demands on our time for a lack of focus or productivity. However, adopting this mindset is showing a willingness to look at how things were done in the past and consider that there might be a better way. Once a person is willing to see if there is a better way, the skillset becomes invaluable!

Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

Another way to think about the mindset and how it impacts performance and productivity is to consider the analogy of a rubber band. A rubber band is not designed to sit in a drawer. If it does, it loses its flexibility and becomes brittle. A rubber band is made to be stretched!

Likewise, as humans, we are meant to grow and be stretched. Sometimes, this takes us out of our comfort zone, but when we step outside this zone, massive growth can happen. To begin the stretch, honestly ask yourself what you can do to go from good (where you are today) to better, while continuously seeking to do what matters most in the quest for your best.

The do what matters most mindset and skillset are deeply intertwined. Whether you work in the front line of your organization or are the CEO, applying this powerful skillset will stretch your mindset to help you be a better influencer and leader. The reality is that each of us either chooses to lead a life by design or live a life by default. From an organizational perspective, the culture in a team is the sum of each individual team member. So, if you lead a team of any size, the truth is this culture starts with you—that is leadership. If you take on this leadership mindset, others are likely to follow your lead.

Part of developing the right mindset, individually and as a team, is to set proper expectations. Vince Lombardi, the former coach of the Green Bay Packers, lived the do what matters most mindset. He set the same expectations for his team that we will invite you to set for yourself and your team. Lombardi was said to have told his players:

We will relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it because nothing is perfect. But we will relentlessly chase it because, in the process, we will catch excellence.
I am not remotely interested in just being good.

Vince Lombardi won many championships because he instilled this mindset into his players. Although the aim is perfection, we know we will never get there. But, like Vince Lombardi, we are confident you and your team members will catch “excellence” in the pursuit. For those who approach this book with the right mindset—committing to be willing and disciplined—these habits will help move boulders rather than pebbles.

Here is an example of what happens when a team has the right mindset and is willing to stretch—in other words, they are willing to set aside the cynic and develop the skillset.

A successful energy company in California had been working on these principles and habits for years. One day, their sales team went through a half day of internal training focused on the big three. This team was averaging about 17 sales per day, prior to the training, which was in the “good” category. At the end of the workshop, the trainer invited the team to set a new goal—averaging 34 sales per day. The new goal meant a big jump in sales and would require a different mindset and a new skillset to help the team schedule their priorities and shift their time to high-influence activities—what we call Q2 activities, which we will cover later in the book.

You can probably guess the team’s initial responses to the new goal. They said things like “We’ve only hit 34 sales once before,” and “I’m not sure about this; that’s a huge jump.” You can see in their responses how real the skeptic was in each one of them—these are natural and common types of first responses for most of us. Despite their initial doubt and skepticism, the members of the team were good sports and set 34 as their new sales goal to average throughout the coming month. The next day—after being armed with a new mindset and after applying the new skillset—the sales team had a record day. Their sales manager was ecstatic when she proudly shared with the trainer, “You’ll never believe it. Today we just shattered our old record and hit 41 sales!”

A month later, this same manager wrote an email saying, “This has been so amazing. Can you guess what our sales average was this month? Thirty-four sales per day!” The team hit the exact goal they had set a month prior. This story repeats itself over and over when people and teams come with the right mindset and then apply the same skillset you will get in this book.

Do you think this sales team could ever go back to 17 sales a day and be satisfied? No. The bar was reset; once the mental bar (mindset) is reset, there is a new standard. This team caught excellence in the pursuit of perfection, and it meant an additional $2.4 million in revenue for the company. More importantly, for each of the sales reps, it meant more money in their pockets, and their job satisfaction significantly increased.

This same type of mental reset can happen with every one of us, whether it is in our professional results, in our health, relationships, and finances, or in our general well-being. Once the bar is moved, it is difficult ever to go back and be satisfied!

The Do What Matters Most Skillset

The combination of the big three—a personal vision, roles and goals, and pre-week planning—makes up the skillset that will help a person take control of their schedule and lead a life by design. When going through the process of developing this skillset, you will be able to step back and look at your life from the 30,000-foot view (vision) and then get specific, down to your weekly and daily actions (pre-week planning), where the rubber meets the road.

As we mentioned in the preface, we researched 1,260 managers and executives from more than 108 different organizations. Sixty-eight percent of them felt that their number one challenge was how to prioritize their time. At the same time, 80 percent did not have a process to plan their weeks and do what matters most. In addition, only 2 percent had a written personal vision, and less than 10 percent had both personal and professional written goals for the year.

When it comes to performance and productivity, most organizations and leaders are thirsting for something that will help them prioritize their time, do what matters most, and solve the task saturation problem. In fact, 84 percent of the people we researched felt that if they had a process to prioritize their time, it would have a big impact on their productivity.

Since 68 percent of people feel like prioritizing their time is their greatest challenge, and yet 80 percent do not have a solution, this is an area that is ripe for organizational improvement when it comes to performance and productivity. We are confident that the big three will close this gap, which is why we promised that this skillset will increase performance and productivity by at least 30 to 50 percent.

In Og Mandino’s classic book The Greatest Salesman in the World, he wisely said, “The only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeeded lies in the difference of their habits. Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Thus, the first law I will obey, which precedeth all others is—I will form good habits.”²

Vision, roles and goals, and pre-week planning are the skillset and habits that are strongly predictive of success. However, like anything, they take discipline and effort, which is the mindset part of the equation.

There is a term we like to use called the performance average. Our performance average is the current level of productivity across the different roles in our lives. Regardless of your starting point right now, when you implement these three high-performance habits (the skillset), they will have a tremendous impact on your mindset and everything will seem to improve. Just like the change in the mindset of the sales team that went from averaging 17 sales to 34 sales, your performance average will increase in almost every area of your life.

When your performance average increases, this causes a transformed mindset of what you are capable of, both as a person and as a leader. In other words, once you raise your performance average, the bar is reset, and it is difficult to ever go back and be happy about it. It is the application of the skillset that raises the mindset, which is why mindset and skillset are so closely tied together.

What should you expect from an increased performance average when you develop the skillset of the big three?

A purpose-driven life

Improved performance and productivity

Significant improvement in workplace results

Better health, improved balance, and peace of mind

Improved relationships

Improved finances and more money

A connection to your true, authentic self

Improved attitude and sense of accomplishment

Better leadership and team-player skills

Wrap Up

The fact that you are reading this book already shows that you have a willing mindset. Your willingness to test the power of a personal vision, roles and goals, and pre-week planning will open doors of growth that you may not have even known were there. Just as it was for the sales team that went from 17 to 34 sales, it will be interesting to see what is possible for you, both personally and professionally.

This type of thinking is the spirit of good, better, best and the high-performer mindset. It is the combination of the high-performer mindset and this skillset that will empower you to fend off task saturation, complacency, the cynic, and procrastination.

Before we get into the skillset of the big three in subsequent chapters, we will first focus on defining the difference between performance and productivity and why the focus on doing what matters most really matters.