dispatches from the new world of work

1Q10

Green shoots showing amid brown stalks

Wednesday is the last day of the 1st quarter of the year.

Ye gads.
Feels as if the Christmas tree lights were just re-boxed.

Quarterly earnings reports are a big deal for public corps. Too big a deal, some say, because of their emphasis on short-term results.

Maybe it's my age showing, but I think 90 days is a long time.

If you made some serious personal or professional "resolutions" for 2010, and your progress is slim, well, 90 days is a looooong time. That is, you're pretty far behind the eight ball.

My point: I heartily urge you, in, at most, the next 10 days to issue a 1Q10 Results Report for Anne R. Smith, or Robert Edmonds or ...

I suggest that the report be Formal in all respects, and 2 pages or less in length (there can be Appendices). I suggest that it more or less cover:

• Progress, scored quantitatively, against key resolutions.
• Projects underway or completed and their score on a 1-10 "Wow Scale."* (*One
measure of "Wow": Odds that I'll be talking about this one 2 years from now.)
• Revised or new or discontinued resolutions for the year.
• Network development activities-plans-goals. (Be rigorous in your reporting.)
• Lifelong learning projects launched or completed. (Including coolest new area you're busy learning about right now.)
• Key steps for the 1st 2 weeks of the new quarter.
• Progress against a set of personal behavioral aspirations such as improvement at listening or showing appreciation or ...
• A 10-word summary of 2010 for you so far. ("Really demonstrating my project start-up skills."
• Overall "Grade" for the year to date.
• If you're a boss, specific successes at people development (answer in detail, no generalizations allowed—use Appendix.)

I suggest that this effort is worth a pretty decent investment in time.
And I suggest that you review it with a trusted advisor or two; otherwise it need not see the light of day.

[Some things have started but have a long way to go. Picture above, Spring in Tinmouth VT is a possibility but hardly around the corner yet!]

Tom Peters posted this on 03/29/10.

Comments

Interesting idea your suggestion of a quarterly report.

In Little Big Things you write that 50 might now be the half point mark in our lives.

With that in mind, should the quarterly report also have a long term view which is not always an American virtue?

Serge
'The French Guy from New Jersey'
Twitter: @theconcierge

Posted by Serge Lescouarnec at March 29, 2010 11:10 AM

Frenchie in Joisy: Absolutely! Though I would HOPE that the things that make for a satisfying longterm-service, integrity, decency, etc-are also practiced daily, or hourly. As I said ... HOPE.

(While I fully acknowledge cultural differences, I suspect that the best of the best have far more in common than not.)

Best, The Hick from Vermont

Posted by tom peters at March 29, 2010 11:26 AM

90 Days a long time?? - you bet.

As a freelance independent sole trader my business planning cycle is maximum 30 days.

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 29, 2010 1:09 PM

90 days is an eternity for a startup company. Your review points are spot on, but we do them every 30 days, review development every two weeks, and objectives every week.

I have found that the "Network development activities-plans-goals. (Be rigorous in your reporting.)" is the most important and yet easiest to make excuses.

Posted by Bruce Fryer at March 29, 2010 2:57 PM

"I have found that the 'Network development activities-plans-goals. (Be rigorous in your reporting.)' is the most important and yet easiest to make excuses."

Agree, Bruce

Posted by tom peters at March 29, 2010 10:09 PM