Do you want to efficiently achieve a goal? Create YOUR own strategy!

“Inspire and get inspired”:
agile coaching interviews on
SELF-LEADERSHIP.

Today we focus on the best strategy to efficiently achieve a goal.
A question to Diego Torricelli – associate professor at the Spanish National Research Council and coordinator of the European H2020 project EUROBENCH.

Inspire and get inspired

S.
Hi Diego. It is great that you have decided to contribute to this emerging project. Thank you for inspiring and getting inspired.

You are an associate professor and leader of the Neuromuscular Coordination Lab at the Cajal Institute (Spanish National Research Council). You are coordinator of several international projects, including the European H2020 project EUROBENCH which aims to create the first benchmark system for robotic systems in Europe.

You daily deal with goals.

FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE, WHAT IS THE EFFICIENT PROCESS TO ACHIEVE A GOAL?

D.
I have been tempted to answer this question with a list of project management or time management tips, such as SMART, LEAN, TOMATOES, etc., which I definitely consider to be valid but which, to be honest, I rarely manage to follow rigorously and continuously. I will therefore only talk about what has really helped me.

The most important is certainly to know oneself.
For example, I am a perfectionist, creative (and therefore prone to rambling), and short on memory. Three anti-efficiency characteristics. But I know myself, and I implement some strategies.

The first is to work in incomplete cycles.
Making incomplete versions of work and doing rounds of revisions with other people, in as little time as possible. Working incompletely takes away the stress of having to do something perfect before others see it. Better a badly done job, but on time, than a perfect one sent late. And with each cycle you get better.

The second, communication.
Constantly communicating with others, whether they are my team or people completely outside the problem, helps me to see what is essential, and focus on it. I realize that I often waste time on details, losing the global vision. This step, together with the previous one, helps me to get out of these “relative minimums”.

The third: monitoring tasks.
Due to my poor memory, and a large number of tasks active at the same time, I find it difficult, if not impossible, to remember the progress of each one. Having eternal meetings talking about everything with everyone only contributes to a good headache. What I do is to use a software where each activity is an individual chat with the people involved. This allows me to follow up activities quickly and effectively.
Is there a new advance? Message.
Here again, communication is crucial.
Every day, I have to receive or send at least one message.
And if there is a need to talk more in depth, a targeted meeting is held.

A final strategy is to reserve the most creative tasks or tasks requiring focus for the most efficient hours.
In my case, these are at night, after dinner. In the absence of noise or interruptions, one hour counts as three.

S.
I recognize your long journey in the company of goals!
I find it stimulating and enlightening to get out of the dynamic of constantly applying solutions that are “external” to yourself, what you have called “project management tools”.
Searching on the net, there are hundreds of courses, blogs and efficiency gurus.
I see, however, in what you have proposed the extra step:

• know yourself
• become aware of yourself and
• create your own strategy for the efficient achievement of goals.

Thank you again for inspiring me on this subject and for allowing yourself to be inspired by a simple question.
I see that the topic is worthy of further exploration.

We will be back soon with a new question, this time in the personal sphere.

And you…

And you, what inspiration do you take from this article?
Write it in the comments.

The co-author