bythemethod.com blog

On a training day this week I was challenged over what personal effectiveness actually means. What does it mean to be personally more effective? I think this was an important question that forced me to think things through again about what I think personal effectiveness is all about.

You see the person asking the question had spent a lot of time working with her team to get them to be more effective in the workplace. They had examined proceedures and how they interact with customers etc, they had even spent time working out what paperwork was not necessary. All of these things are very valid ways of making an organisation more effective.

However I want to say that personal effectiveness goes much deeper than simple proceedures. I could teach you how to use your time more effectively but unless you see the point in manageing that time you won’t adopt the system. I could spend my time spelling out a system for goal setting but unless you understand that goals are important you won’t bother setting any.

Often we get so would up about the system that we forget the purspose of the system.

I happen to think that systems are very important (read this blog to find out more) but if all we do is slavishly follow the system then we lost sight of why we follow the system which will render the system useless.

I’m often asked why it is that people start self improvement full of entuhsiasm but after a short while they just give in and go back to the same old ways. The answer lies deeper than the system. The system is just a means to an end but unless you are fully committed to the end the system is pointless.

Which leads me back to my question about personal effectiveness. I believe personal effectiveness begins with knowing yourself. You have to know what motivates you and what doesn’t. You need to understand your values, your hopes, your dreams. Without knowing your self you will never find a system that will make you more effective.