The Right Way to Continuously Improve
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Get in the Habit Series | Part 3
Continuous improvement has become a bit of a buzz word in the business world. It's something we know we all should be doing—evaluating our processes and making improvements—but most of us are doing it poorly. Spotting an area where improvement is needed in a company or team is the easy part; knowing who or what needs changing to improve is the hard part. Recognizing what needs changing requires having strong self-awareness, and the benefits of developing self-awareness go far beyond the job you are in. In the HBR article What Self-Awareness is and How to Cultivate it, Tasha Eurich describes the importance of self-awareness:
"Research suggests that when we see ourselves clearly, we are more confident and more creative. We make sounder decisions, build stronger relationships, and communicate more effectively. We’re less likely to lie, cheat, and steal. We are better workers who get more promotions. And we’re more-effective leaders with more-satisfied employees and more-profitable companies."
If you're like me, you may fall into the category of people who think they are already pretty self-aware. However, according to Tasha's research, it is unlikely we've fully hit the mark: "Even though most people believe they are self-aware, only 10% - 15% of the people we studied actually fit the criteria." It is therefore beneficial for all of us to take a minute and ask the question: what exactly is self-awareness and how can I improve it?
What is Self-Awareness?
With many different definitions out there, we will go with the definition created by Tasha's team, which divides self-awareness into two categories: internal and external. Internal Self-Awareness is about how we see ourselves, while External Self-Awareness is understanding how others see us. Those who fall on the low or high end of each category will have different areas they need to focus on for improvement. Just like the emotional intelligence domains discussed in this series, you may be high in one area while you are low in another. This is not a "you either have it or you don't" situation, but rather a scale that will ebb and flow because you may find it easier to be self-aware in one situation over another. The idea here is not to check a box, it is to improve the frequency at which you are able to make correct assessments of yourself.
If you read the diagram and believe you fall into the Seeker category (high external self-awareness and low internal self-awareness) then you should regularly be asking yourself - what are my values, aspirations, and passions? Those that are already strong in this area are already doing this, so they won't need to force themselves to ask these questions. They may, however, fall into the Introspections category (high internal and low external self-awareness) and should be regularly asking themselves - how do others describe my values, aspirations, and passions? Do your actions match up with what you believe internally about yourself?
Knowing you need to grow in either internal or external self-awareness is great, but how do we do the growing? This is where developing our habits is key.
Get In The Habit of Documenting Your Day
Whether it is at the end of each day, or the end of each week, taking the time to document what you did, how you did it, and why you did it is a crucial step toward self-awareness. Self-awareness won't just happen, you must take time to reflect. Carving out just 15 minutes a day may reveal some blind spots you didn't know you had. Here are four things that documenting your day can help improve:
Documenting your day can help you improve time-management: If you notice that you showed up 5 minutes late to every meeting you attended, maybe you need to take some time to work on time-management. Recognizing you are poor at time-management is being self-aware, continuous improvement is doing something about it. Try blocking off your calendar 15 minutes before any big meeting so you have time to prepare and ensure you aren't late.
Documenting your day can help you increase efficiency: If you notice you spent 45 minutes writing one not-very-important email, this is a clear sign that your passion for good work is keeping you from managing priorities. Recognizing you need help budgeting your time is being self-aware, continuous improvement is doing something about it. Just telling yourself don't worry about it is the wrong thing to do, because you do worry about it. Instead, try automating what you do with some time-saving tips like Outlook Quick-Parts which allows you to save canned responses and easily use them over and over. This helps you keep quality high and response time low.
Documenting your day can help you control your emotions: If you overreacted and got angry in a meeting, ask yourself - what caused it? What happened before that interaction that may have led to it? Is there something you can do differently next time to be more prepared? Recognizing you sometimes have trouble controlling your emotions is being self-aware, continuous improvement is doing something about it. Look at the times you did handle yourself well and see if you can find a recipe for success. It may have nothing to do with what was said or who said it, but instead that you were hungry and didn't sleep well.
Documenting your day can help you spot gaps in your external awareness: Many people who are internally self-aware may not realize they are lacking in external self-awareness. By spotting inconsistencies with your intention and your behavior, you can better recognize areas where you may not be portraying the person you think you are. For example, if you know that you are passionate about people development and care deeply about helping others grow, but your daily documentation shows you've canceled your 1:1 with your direct report three times in the last month, there is a good chance your team members do not think you care about people development. Recognizing this gap in external awareness is having better overall self-awareness, continuous improvement is doing something about it. If you say you care about developing people, then stop prioritizing your schedule over theirs.
When we document our day, we are taking the time to improve our self-awareness, which will exponentially help us in so many other areas of our lives. I challenge you to create a 15-minute recurring meeting at the end of every day. If that's not possible, then try just 30 minutes a week. There's no wrong way to do it, so long as you are taking the time to go beyond asking what happened and also asking what can be done about it. It is often the smallest of steps that lead to the biggest improvements, and they start with you setting aside time to take them.
