Excellence University Journal

WATER Tip: On-Time Completion

by Dr. Brian Higley

December 26th, 2010

The ability to get things done on time is a critical component of Execution Excellence that is often ignored. It begins with a commitment to setting reasonable deadlines (rather than setting unreasonable deadlines or failing to set any at all), then following through with those carefully set deadlines. Indeed, because the “R” in SMART Goal stands for “Realistic,” no goal is truly SMART without having a reasonable deadline.

For example, the goal “Take out all trash every Wednesday before 9AM” is only truly SMART if it can be accomplished by that time on a regular basis.  If the goal is set knowing that this time is not reasonable on a weekly basis, it will not only affect the current goal’s deadline, but it often also affects commitment to other deadlines.  If one deadline is treated as though it does not matter, it becomes much more acceptable to miss other deadlines.  This can quickly spread the Execution Crisis throughout your life and the lives of those around you.  The ability to commit to (and follow through with) reasonable deadlines is a critical skill associated with Execution Excellence.  On the other hand, inability to do so is another powerful contributor to the Execution Crisis.

• NOTE TO THOSE USING THE MISSION FULFILLMENT SYSTEM A common indicator of high levels of On-Time Completion is a high Personal “Go-Active %” score on your Progress/People subtab.  This subtab is located to the right of the Progress/Items subtab on the upper left-hand side of the main Progress Tab (Personal Go-Active % scores are located on the far right-hand side of the screen, and are displayed as bar graphs).  For instance, if one consistently achieves the SMART Goal “Take out all trash every Wednesday before 9AM” on time, that person’s Go-Active % scores are more likely to be at 80+ percent (indicating Execution Excellence).  Obviously, a lack of On-Time Completion is a major block to Execution Excellence. It is critical that people be able to follow through on commitments to themselves and others on deadline; an inability to do so contributes greatly to The Execution Crisis.
• FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT ON THE MISSION FULFILLMENT SYSTEM: Click here to for more information and click here to sign up.

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Article Filed under: 1. WATER Game Scorecard Tips