The Difference Between Being Prepared and Being Productive
My prototypes arrived today! That marks three games prepared to take to the convention in March. I am working on the fourth as well. These three prototypes have been given an event table for people to try the game out as well. Things seem to be working their way towards our goals.
However, I have realized there is a big difference between taking the time to prepare and being productive. Being productive requires prioritizing. I have worked hard this past week to apply all I have been learning in school to my business and seeing it come off the ground. I have focused so much attention to this, however, that I have seen my schoolwork falter some. Some could argue that it is unimportant since I am actually learning and it is the busy work that is getting missed. Yet I am missing all the learning I could by skimping out.
This is why prioritizing is important. Time is a precious resource and needs to be assigned properly to allow for production to maximize. A leader without priorities will not be able to lead the team with the proper focus. For example, my head of development really enjoys creating new game ideas. We often get sidetracked on new projects before old projects are ever close to finishing.
A survey I took for a business class helped me understand whether I used the Authoritarian, Participative, or Delegative style of leadership. I scored very high in the Participative style. It is important to note, however, that singling out only one style as a leader is a very poor choice. A good leader has many styles under his belt and is able to pull out the required style at the required moment.
When I ran a Boy Scout camp, I often taught my staff this principle. I called it the Tool Belt Leader. When you work construction, a good tool belt is a must. Standing on a pitched roof means nowhere safe to place a bag of tools and constant back and forth from bag to project each time you need a tool. So different important tools are placed in a tool belt allowing quick access to them at all times. As a leader, we also need to have tools at our disposal. People are different and require different ways of being led. Different circumstances may also necessitate a quick change in leadership. Knowing how these tools work, the best time to use one tool above the other, and having access to them is all very important.
This takes practice, and the best employee to practice on is yourself! If you cannot even lead yourself, how do others expect you to lead them?! This takes me full circle to the start of this post and ensuring that you are being productive instead of just being prepared. We need to prioritize, follow through, and be productive in all that we do.
However, I have realized there is a big difference between taking the time to prepare and being productive. Being productive requires prioritizing. I have worked hard this past week to apply all I have been learning in school to my business and seeing it come off the ground. I have focused so much attention to this, however, that I have seen my schoolwork falter some. Some could argue that it is unimportant since I am actually learning and it is the busy work that is getting missed. Yet I am missing all the learning I could by skimping out.
This is why prioritizing is important. Time is a precious resource and needs to be assigned properly to allow for production to maximize. A leader without priorities will not be able to lead the team with the proper focus. For example, my head of development really enjoys creating new game ideas. We often get sidetracked on new projects before old projects are ever close to finishing.
A survey I took for a business class helped me understand whether I used the Authoritarian, Participative, or Delegative style of leadership. I scored very high in the Participative style. It is important to note, however, that singling out only one style as a leader is a very poor choice. A good leader has many styles under his belt and is able to pull out the required style at the required moment.
When I ran a Boy Scout camp, I often taught my staff this principle. I called it the Tool Belt Leader. When you work construction, a good tool belt is a must. Standing on a pitched roof means nowhere safe to place a bag of tools and constant back and forth from bag to project each time you need a tool. So different important tools are placed in a tool belt allowing quick access to them at all times. As a leader, we also need to have tools at our disposal. People are different and require different ways of being led. Different circumstances may also necessitate a quick change in leadership. Knowing how these tools work, the best time to use one tool above the other, and having access to them is all very important.
This takes practice, and the best employee to practice on is yourself! If you cannot even lead yourself, how do others expect you to lead them?! This takes me full circle to the start of this post and ensuring that you are being productive instead of just being prepared. We need to prioritize, follow through, and be productive in all that we do.
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