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Leap Challenge Day 23: Communicate your Plan

Geoff Webb — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Now that your plan is in place, it’s time to let the right people know about it.

Leap Task #23: If you haven’t already, explain your plan to those who need to know.

Go back to your list of key influencers and determine who you need to bring on board. Don’t just consider those who will be directly involved—be sure to get buy-in from anyone who will have to sacrifice something (your family, your boss, etc.).

Things to keep in mind when conveying your plan:

Watch Yourself. Be wary of who you tell and what effect it may have on your performance (See Task #11: Choose Who To Tell).
Keep it Simple. Distill your message down to the fundamental core concepts and get these down pat. This is your “elevator speech.” You can add the rest as needed.
Explain Why. Always begin by explaining why not going after this dream is undesirable for both you and them. Once they understand how untenable the present is, then—and only then—unveil your vision.
Talk about them. Every human being’s default is to think about themselves, so whomever you’re speaking with, speak in terms of that person and what they care about. Always highlight (honestly) what they will get out of all this.
Invite their thoughts…and genuinely consider them. Don’t do the former if you have no intention of doing the latter. This simple gesture will increase your chances of gaining their commitment more than anything else.
Practice. Even if it’s a simple conversation or a phone call. Write out some notes—not a script—and run through it a few times to get it down.
Use both sides of your brain. Include passion and precision. Seek to be both convincing and compelling. Lay out your purpose and your plan.

What other tips do you have for getting buy-in?

Leap Challenge Day 22: Test your Plan

Geoff Webb — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

The cast rehearses the performance. The bridal party rehearses the ceremony. The platoon rehearses the operation. The team rehearses the play.

So why don’t we rehearse our dreams?

Now that you’ve got a plan, it’s time to test it. It may look good on paper, but we need to determine how it will hold up under the weight of the real world.

Leap Task #22: Test your plan against reality.

Two suggestions for testing your plan:

1. Get it vetted by someone else. Run your plan by someone who:

a. Hasn’t been a part of your planning process

b. is very practical, loves details, and believes in you.

2. Wargame your plan. Run through your plan step by step. As your progress, bring up all the possible obstacles you anticipate facing—each at the appropriate time in your plan. Don’t hold anything back. Then work your plan—apply resources and adapt as events unfold. At the end, make notes of lessons learned and adjustments you made, then run it again trying out the changes. Repeat as many times as necessary—or possible.

What did you learn from testing your plan?

Leap Challenge Day 21: Resource your Plan

Geoff Webb — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Your plan should be shaping up nicely now. Time to make sure you have everything you need to knock it out of the park! It’s always best to match your resources to your tasks before you leap, instead of dealing with unexpected shortages and struggles once you’re fully engaged. You’ll have enough to worry about once you get started!

Leap Task #21: Allocate resources to your plan and fix the gaps.

Referencing your Leap Journal—especially the gap between your vision and where you are now, your key influencers, and your refined objectives—answer the following questions about each part of your plan:

People. What people do I need to get this done? What do I need from them—their hands, their brains, their network, their moral support? How will I find them? How will I approach them?
Time. How much time will this require? How will I adjust my busy schedule to make enough time available? How can I get creative with my time? What do I need to sacrifice?
Finances. How much money will I need? Where will the funding come from? Can I do this myself? Do I need investors? How long will it take to raise the necessary funds?
Knowledge. What kind of special knowledge or skill will I need? How will I acquire what I need? Where will I find it?
Material. What physical materials will I need? Do I have it already or do I need to acquire more? Do I need to buy it new or can I find what I need used?
Space. Do I need a specific space to work? Does it have to be a dedicated area or could it be a shared space? Does it need to be private or could it be public? What special requirements are needed in the space?

When you’re finished, identify areas where you don’t have enough resources and brainstorm ways to bridge the gap.

What resource needs did you uncover that aren’t listed above? What resource gaps (if any) did you identify?

Leap Challenge Day 20: Create Your Timeline

Geoff Webb — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Now that you know the major objectives you have to achieve in order to make your dream a reality, it’s time to determine when—and in what order—you should tackle them.

Leap Task #20: Lay out your objectives in a timeline.

Here are 3 tips for creating a viable timeline:

1. Order matters. Look for dependencies—some objectives probably build upon others. String these together in the proper order. Next, place the remaining objectives—those independent of the others—in the timeline where they seem to fit, but not in a way that overloads any one point in time.

2. Backward plan. Start with the end (i.e. your vision) in mind and work backward, one step at a time. Assign the time you think each objective will require. Once you have all the objectives in place, tweak the time allotted to each objective to ensure they all fit between now and your targeted end-date.

3. Assign time blocks. Not everything starts at once. Assign each objective a start date and an end date. Do not plan everything to run simultaneously. That said, while some objectives will run sequentially, expect others to run concurrently.

How do you feel about your timeline?

Leap Challenge Day 19: Relax your Mind

Geoff Webb — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

The first Sunday of the Leap Challenge you were asked to give your spirit a break and last week you were instructed to recharge your heart. Adding on to those, today I’d like you to turn off your scheming brain.

For so many of us a “day off” means a day that we don’t do anything that is directly related to our occupation. But how many of us, while we’re trying to enjoy ourselves, start inadvertently thinking about that problem at work or how we’re going to fix this or that—or that “good idea” that’ll change everything.

Then we wonder why we don’t feel rested come Monday morning. It’s because we never really rested—at least not in our minds.

Leap Task #19: Rest—relax your mind.

So today when you realize that you’re scheming—even if it’s about your dream—stop. Bring your mind back to the present moment. Enjoy where you are, what you are doing, and who you are with.

Let all the schemes go for a day. Let them incubate. Trust that they’ll hatch at the right time. Just not today.

How difficult was this task for you?

Leap Challenge Day 18: Catch Up Day!

Geoff Webb — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Congratulations—you’ve made it to Day 18!

Today is a catch up day. So if haven’t started, jump in and knock out some tasks. If you’re a little behind, take some time to do the tasks you missed. If you’re keeping up just fine, take this opportunity to review your Leap Journal and tweak anything that needs adjusted.

I’m proud of each and every one of you—and so honored to be going on this journey with you. If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to head on over to blog and join the conversations in the comments sections of each post.

For your convenience, here are all the Leap Posts so far (including the rest days in parentheses). Enjoy…

What’s been the best part of the challenge for you so far?

Leap Challenge Day 17: Refine Your Metrics

Geoff Webb — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Part of refining your objectives is refining how you measure them.

I always gain “sympathy weight” during my wife’s pregnancies. It just happens. The best tool I’ve found to help me shed those extra pounds is a free iPhone app called Lose It!. The reason Lose It! works so well is that it does an outstanding job of leveraging two types of metrics: lead and lag measures.

Lag measures quantify actual outputs and end results. Most weight loss programs use the lag measure of your current weight to mark progress (or lack thereof). Lag measures are great for telling you where you are, but they can’t tell you how you got there.
Lead measures, on the other hand, measure the activities that directly impact outputs and results. Lead measures are things you can manipulate to produce the results you see in Lag measures. Lead measures for weight loss might be calorie input (how much you eat) and calorie output (how much you exercise).

Tracking your lead measures helps you become more intentional about your choices—in order to move the needle on your lag measures. Not to mention that seeing your progress can be a huge motivator.

Leap Task #17: Brainstorm lead and lag measures for your objectives and write them down in your Leap Journal.

Here are some examples of lead and lag measures for different categories:

	Lead Measure	Lag Measure
Weight loss:	Calorie inputs/outputs	Current wieght
Writing:	Hours of writing	Page count
Business:	Employee engagement	Customer satisfaction
Piano lessons:	Hours of practice	Proficiency at playing Beethoven’s 9th

Now that you have some metrics, how do you plan on tracking them?

Leap Challenge Day 16: Refine your Objectives

Geoff Webb — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

One of the first things a young aviator learns is how to construct a Time-Distance-Heading (TDH) Card. Before the days of the GPS, a TDH card got you to our destination by leading you there one waypoint at a time.

Now that you’ve broken your dream into a few big objectives (or waypoints), it’s time to refine them and make sure they serve you well, bringing you safely to your dream destination.

Leap Task #16: Read the article “Shooting for the Moon,” then make sure each of your objectives meets the SMART criteria.

In your Leap Journal I suggest you list each of your objectives. Then, under each one write a concise statement specifying what it is and why it’s both ambitious and realistic. Next, list a metric for each objective—how will you know when you have achieved each one? Finally add a timeline for each. When will you start working on this objective? When do you plan to finish it? Will you work on each objective sequentially or can some be tackled simultaneously? For sequential objectives, what’s the best order?

How do you feel about your plan so far?

Leap Challenge Day 15: Develop Your Plan

Geoff Webb — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Orville and Wilbur Wright didn’t invent the first airplane by accident. They had passion and a vision, but they also had a plan. They accomplished their huge dream by breaking it down into five achievable missions:

Figure out how things fly.
Devise a system for controlling flight.
Develop a viable propulsion system.
Learn test piloting skills.
Build & fly a heavier-than-air, self-propelled aircraft.

Your turn:

Leap Task #15: Break your strategy into 3 to 5 manageable objectives that once completed—sequentially or concurrently—you’ll have achieved your dream.

Now that you have a general strategy for getting from where you are to where you want to be, it’s time to break it down into a few manageable pieces. You can call these bite-sized chunks whatever you like—intermediate objectives, short-term goals, stepping stones—it doesn’t matter. Just make sure each one directly supports accomplishing your dream.

Which objective has you the most worried?

Are You Behind on the Leap Challenge?

Geoff Webb — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:45:45 +0000

We’re half-way through the Leap Challenge and I’ve had a few people ask how to “catch up” since they’re behind on the tasks. I figure there are probably even more out there asking the same question. You may have been overwhelmed by life, or maybe you got a late start. Whatever your situation, I have two suggestions:

1. Continue to do the tasks in order, just “leap” a few days after the rest of us do it on Leap Day. Normally I’d say this isn’t a big deal (you can start this challenge any day of any month), but part of the power of the challenge is the solidarity that comes with knowing that a community is committed to seeing this through now. Yes, we’re all pursuing our individual dreams, but we’re doing it together, and we’re not putting it off any longer.

2. Play catch-up. You can do this by doubling up tasks everyday. If you started today and doubled up on the tasks, you would finish on time with everyone else.

To facilitate option #2 I’ve combined a couple of tasks in the second half of the challenge so that we can have a “Catch-up” day this Saturday. So there won’t be a new leap task this Saturday, February 18th—it’s a free day for you to catch up if you need to. Block some time away and do it, you won’t regret it.

Would a catch up day be helpful to you?