But no matter who you are innovation is crucial to your company, to your department, and in your particular role. Bring innovation to your work with these four ways to create change:

Consistent Progress

Innovation doesn’t need to be an overwhelming task. Start off by changing one small thing. Then change another. A miniscule change that seems hardly worth your time has a way of creating momentum that eventually produces results far greater.

Fix What’s Broken

This one is easy. What have you complained about in the past month? What has frustrated you this week? What stands in the way of you doing your job better, easier, or faster? Look around you and make a list of what is not working right now. Don’t feel the need to produce a solution immediately—or ever. Just make the list, keep it handy, and come back to it later. You will likely find this simple act will get the ball rolling in the right direction and new ideas will emerge when you least expect.

Imitate

Imitation might seem, at first, the antithesis of innovation. Not so. There is no need to reinvent the wheel and there are plenty of wheels out there. Step outside of your industry, vocation, or function and learn about what others are doing elsewhere. As a bonus, the mindset of imitation produces immediate action while innovation can cause a delay.

Start a Discussion

Perhaps you really can’t think of anything to improve, any problem to solve, or anywhere to start. It’s not likely, but it happens. Unfortunately, it tends to happen to us more often as we move higher up in the organization and when we are farther removed from the little things. But I’d be willing to bet that others around you have suggestions and opinions. This is true especially when they are free from the responsibility of following through. Create an environment that fosters this kind of discussion, jump in, and take good notes!

This post was originally published on The Fast Track.

For example, times you rely solely on your memory:

• Remembering someone’s name after a networking event or party. Sure, you might have exchanged business cards but how do you remember which is whose?
• Taking an exam. And other times when bringing your notes along is considered cheating!
• Knowing details about your client’s company or a company where you are interviewing. It’s not nearly as impressive if you pull out a list.
• Making a mental to-do list. Do you write out a shopping list for less than ten items? What about less than five? How often do you remember to buy everything you intended?

As with most things, having a good memory is a skill that can be acquired, learned, and practiced. There are a few memory techniques that you probably already use, but perhaps you are not aware of them. By becoming aware of how they work and practicing their use, you can increase your memory capacity.

Chunking

There is a limit to the number of arbitrary items our working memory can process. In a paper titled,The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two, George Miller found that it is possible to increase that limit by chunking the information into something more meaningful. By consolidating data points into fewer, organized, sequenced chunks of information you can remember more than would be ordinarily possible. What constitutes a chunk differs based on your own long-term memory and store of knowledge. Examples of chunking:

• The town where I grew up had the area code of 973 and the city code of 398. Everyone’s phone number started with a 973-398 so I only had to recall the last 4 numbers instead of all 10.

Meaning

Here’s a common workplace scenario: you walk into a conference room only to be promptly introduced to Jason, Elizabeth, Vern, Robert, and Paul. According to PsyBlog, names are difficult to remember because they are arbitrary and meaningless. The trick to remember names, then, is to assign meaning to them. Use whatever pops into your mind. Perhaps Jason is sitting on the left so you picture him as a “J” which is a letter hooks to the left. Vern might be wearing green so he is Fern Vern. You have to use what works for you and it’s often true that the sillier the better.

Association

When you encode two unrelated items together in your memory, when you encounter one you will likely also remember the other. If you plan to visit your boss’s office before leaving for the day, take a minute to associate your boss with something you will undoubtedly come across today, such as the elevator. To do this, you could picture your boss standing in the elevator as the doors open or you can picture his face on the button that you usually hit. The next time you take the elevator you will think of your boss, thus remembering you wanted to go talk to him today. The elevator or the elevator button are essentially acting as a trigger which reminds you of your plans of talking to your boss.

Visualization

Adding a visual element engages a new area of your brain. Create an image of what you want to remember. If it is a sequence of items, you can create a “video” or walkthrough of sorts to link them together. For example, to remember a grocery list, you might picture your route around the grocery store. If you are memorizing your presentation, think of yourself as a tour guide, bringing your audience to several stations (i.e., your talking points).

This post was originally published on The Fast Track.

First, a quick distinction between the behaviors and the outcomes as it is related to job performance. Behaviors are what you do while outcomes are what get done. Behaviors are the only component of job performance that are within 100% of your own control. So this is where I will focus.

Outcomes, while good and necessary, differ depending on what work you do. They are the result your actions, but they are also very much influenced by factors outside of your control. For example, meeting a certain dollar amount for a sales target is an outcome. Whether you are a good salesperson or not, the market demands and product quality exert an influence on what is possible and how easy or difficult it is to achieve.

Actively seeking to become a better performer, then, involves behavior. For almost any job out there, there are eight universal categories of behavior that influence the outcome of your work:

Basic Skills

Job-specific competence – the level of technical knowledge required for the position and how well you complete tasks related to the major aspects of the job. How well you do exactly what you were hired to do. For example, writing code if you are a programmer.

General work competence – how well you do other related tasks. This is the type of work that everyone is responsible for in your organization, your work unit, or your profession. For example, customer service or proficiency in Microsoft Office.

Managing Yourself

Personal effort – demonstrating effort on a frequent, consistent, and substantive basis. This includes both effort in doing and thinking. For example, when overloaded with work, you expend extra effort rather than automatically passing it on to others. Alternatively, when confronted with a difficult problem, you proactively seek solutions before giving up and asking for help. Related: see #3 and #6 on this list.

Personal discipline – keeping a schedule and organized work day. This can range from such basics as coming to work on time and avoiding personal altercations to more advanced techniques such as respecting deadlines and managing time effectively.

Working with Others

Communication – written communication such as writing clear and concise emails; oral communication such as making a point at the weekly meeting; formal communication such as presenting the results of a survey to a board; or informal communication such as discussing a project with your boss.

Teamwork – performance that is a result of a group effort rather than simply your individual effort; activities requiring collaboration or cooperation with others. Specific behaviors could include keeping a group focused, encouraging participation, acting as a good role model, and offering assistance.

Taking Action

Management – typical management duties are setting goals to support a strategy, planning projects, organizing, delegating work, adhering to a budget, meeting deadlines, training employees, and keeping everyone informed and on the same page.

Leadership – in practice, this one can get confused with management sometimes and might be neglected if you are not naturally great in this area. Examples of leadership are striving for innovation, influencing others, motivating others, acting as a role model and serving as a coach.

Take a look at the above list and determine where you can make changes. But… if this list is at all intimidating, remember this: “only the mediocre are always at their best.”

This post was originally published on The Fast Track.

QUESTION:

When I do have a deadline, I am able to meet it, but it’s not because I work ahead – more like I rush until the end. The work my company does is very meaningful, but I just stopped caring recently and don’t know what to do. I want to be successful, productive and energized but it seems my mind and body are fighting against me. How do you stay motivated?

ANSWER: A lack of focus can be due to one of two things: overstimulation or understimulation. Neither is desirable, but both are fixable. To get a handle on it, figure out which one is more likely.

• Overstimulated: You are stressed, frazzled, overloaded, and experiencing burnout. There is too much pressure, you are involved with too many projects, and feel very busy in many areas of your life.
• Understimulated: You are bored and don’t feel challenged. You are stuck doing repetitive tasks, your goals are not motivating, or you have lost interest in your work.

As you describe it, it sounds like understimulation. The best way I have found to combat that is to get involved in more projects, take on more responsibility, set more challenging goals, and fill up your schedule with activities that move you toward them.

If you can do this at your company—great! Talk to your manager about the company’s strategy, business needs, and what you can do to support their mission. Sometimes this is not possible. In that case, get involved with professional organizations in your industry, volunteer your talents in your community, or direct your focus toward new or existing personal hobbies.

Feelings of apathy are common, usually temporary, and most easily addressed when you catch them early, as it sounds you have done. Adding more busyness into your life will help you feel more productive. Make sure there is at least one important action item on your to-do list each day, and make it a priority to start your day by completing that task. As your schedule fills up with meaningful activities, you’ll find more and more things that are interesting and worth pursuing. This shift in energy will get you back on track—at work and in general.

This was my answer to the November reader question on the Intuit QuickBase Blog. To see three other expert perspectives on the topic, please view the original post at 360 Answers: When You Can’t Stay Focused at Work.

Prepare Thoroughly

Ambiguity and uncertainty is a big contributor to much of stress related to change. Increase your understanding of the situation and gather as much information as you can to ease your mind.

• Do your homework—research and study available public information.
• Be interested–learn as much about the people, culture, and business of the other company.
• Ask plenty of questions and phrase them in a way that shows enthusiasm rather than resistance.
• Consider every meeting akin to a job interview and the next few months akin to the first 90 days of a new job. Prepare and seek to impress. Network and get to know new people.
• Ensure a smooth transition for your current area of responsibility.

React Well

Keep your emotions in check. A merger or acquisition makes for a stressful time so it is understandable that you might be on edge, but take care of yourself so it doesn’t negatively affect your decisions and behaviors. Regardless of your actual feelings, display optimism (for the most part). Granted, if there are actual concerns you don’t want to brush over them, but don’t go around infecting everyone with unsolicited pessimism. Keep an open mind: instead of “this won’t work” change the tone to “how can we make this work?” When presenting arguments, especially those that may not be received well, use data and facts rather than opinions and emotions.

Add Value

Mergers and acquisitions create new opportunities not only for the organization but also for employees who are willing and able to act on them. New systems, new people, new processes, new responsibilities become available. This can allow you to enhance your skills or position yourself for a promotion.

To exploit the opportunity, take on additional responsibilities to demonstrate your competence besides what was required of your immediate position. Take the lead in change management. Most of us are at least somewhat resistant to change, but it is inevitable, so don’t fight it. Help strategize, plan, and develop new products and processes. Get others on board with you. Don’t forget to also keep lines of communication open about preferences, assumptions, and plans.

As with most things, when you approach the situation with curiosity, positivity, and an open-mind, you put yourself in a better position than if you remain defensive, hostile, or obstinate.

This post was originally published on The Fast Track.