23 Ways to be Happy at Work: #8 - Try the same old thing to get different results
Do you have your own tools or templates that you use to get great results? I’ve collected so many tools and templates over the course of my career that I can pull them out as new work situations or assignments arise. When I creatively use apply them to the problem or opportunity, I know that I will get my expected results and performance,.
For example, the approach that I used in “23 Ways to be Happy at Work: #7 - What is the Problem? How to Identify Solutions” is the exact approach that I used in my Marketing Department Workload Assessment, when my CEO had more priorities than I had resources to get his marketing priorities completed. I didn’t complain about having too much work. Instead, I identified all the deliverables, and then determined an estimate how many hours of work were required to complete the deliverable across my marketing department’s workers, including myself. I was able to demonstrate that the desired marketing deliverables exceeded the headcount available, so we’d have to prioritize the deliverables on a monthly and quarterly basis. My CEO and the Management Team were understanding after reading the assessment, so we worked together to figure out the must-have deliverables for the quarter that supported our company goals at the time.
Our work experience, combined with our tools and templates, provides the ability to be creative in applying those tools. Having this expertise makes work more fun and challenging. It’s always fun doing something that we’re good at. I know that I can always use my problem solving tools—a project management methodology—to create new departments, websites, products, or programs. I tweak this process for the given situation, but the basic approach is a tried-and-true one.
List what those work tools are
What are your tools and templates that you use over and over again? Have you customized them to new circumstances? Do you find yourself getting more creative with in application? If not, start training yourself to be more creative by seeing how you can adapt your existing tools or templates to new situations. How can you tailor them to problems or opportunities?
Being happy at work is having the confidence in knowing that you have the right tools for any situation that produces your expected results.
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23 Ways to be Happy at Work Series
The 23 Ways to be Happy at Work series reflects on 23 ways to help you reflect about the course of your career. After deciding to identify what made me happy at work, my list became this list. Here the are the drivers to my happiness at work that may help you manage your career:
- Work by your values
- Love your work, love your career
- Decide what makes you happy in your job
- Work can be play
- Know the big picture
- Walk in your boss’ shoes
- What is the problem?
- Try the same old thing to get different results
- Try something new to get different results
- List your accomplishments
- Don’t gossip
- Don’t react
- Don’t worry
- Don’t be unhealthy
- Read up
- Read It
- Share knowledge
- Mend fences
- Be a squirrel
- Change your workspace
- Give yourself a gift
- Let it go
- Change this!
For previous entries in this series, click here.
