Welcome back! It's good to see you again. Please note that I am now publishing all new material at my hub site: In Context Blog

Please watch this video from the TED conference.

Johnny Lee describes how quickly his research has been disseminated via YouTube, and I join him in being curious as to how this simple new technology will affect the video-game development community.

Today’s guest post is from Mike St. Pierre of The Daily Saint. 

If you could measure how much chit-chat goes into an average workday, would you then keep it up or cut down on it?  When four veteran employees were fired last May due to excessive gossip at work, people were outraged.  At the end of the day, it was a good reminder that productivity does matter.  It appears that the high school girls who ruined your reputation in 10th grade have grown up and not kicked the habit.

If GTD has done anything for the productivity world, it’s enhanced our awareness of the need to stay focused at work, do one thing at a time, and handle interruptions with ease.  Today’s insight is simple: do more at work by talking less to those around you.  I’m not advocating a sort of monasticwork-flow where we light candles and speak for only an hour after lunch.  Rather, it seems to make sense that we talk when we need to rather than as an escape from our work.

I see many people who stay in a conversation just a bit longer than they need to.  It’s a sort of luxury that folks enjoy in order to delay work.  Fascinating but true.

Some suggestions for getting things done today while using fewer words:

• Keep your door closed for one solid hour while you crank out some work.
• Go for a walk around the block after lunch instead of chatting by the water cooler.
• Buy a pair of headphones and use at your discretion.
• Put a sign on the back of your chair that says, “Please do not interrupt- power hour in process.”

Resources for the Road
Gossip Tops Biggest Workplace Pet Peeves
NY Times: If You Can’t Say Anything Nice
Become a Workplace Superstar: Tame the Gossip in You

Today’s guest post is by Al at 7P Productions.

This is the conclusion of the ACE series, where I compare it with SMART and EASIER.

Part 1 of the series introduced ACE (Assess, Commit, Execute) which can be used for both simple and large tasks and goals, and part 2 of the series explained in more details of how ACE can be used for the larger tasks. The ACE system was something I created to help myself, and I was compelled to post it since I also came across SMART (Specific, Measureable, Achieveable, Realistic, and Time-bound) and EASIER (Envision, Assess, Strategize, Implement, Evaluate, and Report), which were both similar to ACE.

The ACE steps are straightforward for smaller tasks, but can expand for larger tasks. From the previous post in this series, here is a summary of the full ACE system:

• Assess: Check the cost, then see if you can afford it under its TERMs (Time, Effort, Resource, and Money).
• Commit: Go through the 3 C’s. Does the task or goal fit into context with your master plan? Remember you have the choice to not commit. If you do commit, conceptualize a successful execution of the task.
• Execute: Do not hesitate and execute through completion. Use milestones for long-term projects.

SMART is a good acronym to help set goals, which is what is happening also in the Assess step above. ACE is more of an beginning-to-end system, which EASIER is also. The main difference I see between the two is that EASIER helps with the large goals and ACE is simple enough for small goals but can expand for big goals as well.

From a side-by-side comparison, I see each system being complete for what they are trying to do. Instead of picking the overall best from the three, I would say the best is the one that specifically suits your need. If you need help just to set goals, SMART is a popular acronym that other people may already know about. If you’re looking for something from beginning-to-end system, I’d say go for either ACE or EASIER. I think ACE is easier to remember (pardon the pun), and I like how ACE is a three-step process for simple tasks, but can be more involved for larger tasks when needed (however, since I’m the one who came up with ACE, I am a little biased).

Epilogue
It was also noted by Lisa Gates that there should be a “pre-assess” step as well, in order to establish core values as necessary anchors. I totally agree with this viewpoint, because setting goals without a master plan is basically being in a rush to get to nowhere. Some sort of long-term planning, even life-long planning, is needed before any of all this is meaningful.

Today’s post is by Al at 7P Productions.

In Part 1 of this series, I introduced the A-C-E system (Assess, Commit, Execute) that I created for myself to help sort out what’s needed to get done. It’s self-explanatory for simple everyday tasks, but A-C-E can also be really helpful for more complex tasks.

A - ASSESS

What do you do when you go shopping for something trivial, like groceries? You go through the assess-commit-execute steps every time you grab something from the shelf and put it into your cart, but it only takes a split-second for the whole process. Now, think about buying something bigger, such as a new computer, a new car, or even a new house. You will naturally be more careful, but the basic principles with the first step stay the same - you first check the cost, and then you see if you can afford it. In a nutshell, this is the assessment step.

When it comes to tasks and goals, it’s sometimes helpful to go through a checklist of what can contribute to the cost of the task or goal. Especially for something big and complex, it’s a good idea to go through such a checklist to make sure all the important factors are considered. Using the analogy of buying a car again, you would ask what the terms are for the purchase - how much downpayment is needed, your trade-in value, etc… For tasks and goals, my checklist for the terms is just that: T-E-R-M:

• Time: When is it due?
• Effort: How many hours/days/weeks will it take?
• Resource: What tools are needed? Is outside support also needed?
• Money: Is a budget needed? How much?

It’s important to understand that each criteria in TERM should be quantifiable - always use numbers! That’s why I like to use the car buying analogy, because numbers are needed before anything can be finalized.

C - COMMIT

Sometimes it’s straightforward to commit after the assessment is done, but it can be helpful to go through the formal process of the commitment step before moving forward. The reason why I made commitment a separate step is because it’s foolish to jump into something before realizing whether or not you should. The three C’s to consider for commitment are Context, Choice, and Conceptualize.

After an assessment is made on the task or goal, you must decide whether it’s truly beneficial for you. You have to put it in context with your existing goals and priorities. Is it consistent, or would it be a distraction to your master plan?

At this point, you must also realize that you have a choice to not to go forward. Sometimes, we are in reaction mode and feel we are obliged to do certain things, but in reality we can choose to go a different path.  Moving forward must be an active choice.
If everything makes sense in terms of context and choice, then a commitment can be made. It’s important to realize that the ability to envision a successful completion of the task or goal is very powerful. Conceptualizing a mental picture of yourself successfully completing your task or goal is the final requirement to make the commitment.

E - EXECUTE

If you assessed properly and made the right commitment, then execution should be straightforward. Ideally, the final step would be to cleanly and effortlessly execute your task and achieve your goal. Typically for large projects, many tasks never get executed cleanly. Here are tips to help improve your chances of a clean execution:

• Do not hesitate: You already assessed and committed, do not second-guess yourself. Execute through completion, and do not fall into the trap of analysis-paralysis.
• Do not procrastinate: If now is not the best time, then make a conscientious effort to commit to a better time to execute. It will be a vow to yourself to get it done.
• Have proper expectations: It sometimes require 2-3 times longer to do a task that is new which you never done before. Make sure your expectations are set accordingly.

Execution Milestones for Large Projects
Typically for large project, the situation changes as the project develops. It’s important to have milestones and to implement ACE in cycles:

Assess-Commit-Execute-MILESTONE#1-
Assess-Commit-Execute-MILESTONE#2-
[…]
Assess-Commit-Execute-LAST_MILESTONE

It is at the milestone where future milestones should be reevaluated and adjusted. Without using milestones, you will frequently stop during the execution phase and you will find yourself needing to make costly adjustments, but with proper use of milestones, these adjustments can be far cheaper.

SUMMARY

ACE was meant to keep things simple, and for many tasks and goals, the Assess-Commit-Execute steps are straightforward. For larger tasks and goals, it can be helpful to go through a more formal process in each step:

• Assess: Check the cost, then see if you can afford it under its TERMs (Time, Effort, Resource, and Money).
• Commit: Go through the 3 C’s. Does the task or goal fit into context with your master plan? Remember you have the choice to not commit. If you do commit, conceptualize a successful execution of the task.
• Execute: Do not hesitate and execute through completion. Use milestones for long-term projects.