Your Checklist is Not The Purpose

Posted on June 6, 2019

Recently I ran a simulation at a workshop and despite completing the task at hand nobody in the group felt a sense of accomplishment. When we debriefed, it turned out that some found the activity meaningless, some thought the way they delivered was nothing to be proud of. Some questioned values, some questioned purpose, some complained about the reward of completion. There was no celebration, just delivery. Later, they reflected on how similar this was at their real work too.

What does this mean for companies? What is the opportunity we are missing by just emphasizing the importance of getting the job done? How many times do people deliver what they need to but it does not contribute to the longer term success?

Loyalty, motivation, satisfaction, fulfillment are not results of task completions. They are related to purpose, impact, desire, values.

I manage my To Do List like a balance sheet. I make sure that I have enough energizers and spend balanced time on them. As for the others, I just love the satisfaction of crossing them off of my list so that stays as the motivation.

How is the balance of your To Do List? Do you owe yourself some meaning?