Are you ready to think about January?
(Don’t throw anything!) I know Christmas is out before Halloween and it’s almost time for Valentine’s displays…we are bombarded with thinking ahead. But hear me out! 2020 is going to be full of community-awesomeness! Starting out with the annual Community Summit January 23-25, 2020!!
We want you to start thinking about it now…more details at the end of this blog…but follow me now down a little rabbit hole of thought…
In our office, we subscribe to Seth Godin’s daily thoughts email. The one this morning is more work-related (which in your How’s Your 5? Conversations…here’s a WORK thought)…but we always have our community glasses on.
Projects vs Tasks
Your job might be a series of tasks. Tasks are work where money is traded for time and effort. You put in a fixed amount of time, expending effort along the way, and you get paid. In the end, tasks are completed and it’s up to the boss to weave those tasks together into something useful.
The person at the front desk of a hotel is probably doing a task. So is the lineman working on a high power line. The easier a job is to get, the more likely it involves doing tasks.
The alternative is projects.
The way a project gets done is up to you. Your goal is to create an extraordinary outcome, not to perform the tasks. The work done is simply a means to an end. If you can figure out how to do less work or different work and still create project magic, that’s exactly what you should do.
The challenge is in owning the project. To say, “I’m going to engage with this customer in a way that changes them from frustrated to loyal,” as opposed to saying, “I’m going to move this paper from here to there.”
Claim the project before you start the work.
From a community lens…when it comes to projects vs tasks I think of volunteering and involvement. It’s OK to admit that sometimes when you sign up for something it becomes a task. Or within a project your “assigned” some tasks. If you’ve been part of the same thing/group for a long time it can start to feel more like a task too.
So how do we own it? How do we stay passionate about the project we want to be part of for our community?
I love when Seth says claim the project before you start the work. It’s much like we heard from David Irvine when he joined us for café and said, ‘be a community owner vs a renter’.
It’s a mindset as much as it is action.
Self check in: Ask yourself…. How much do I have on my plate? Am I ready for another project? How passionate am I about this?
Permission granted right now to say no if the answers to those questions don’t align. Your next opportunity is coming right up, don’t fear. (Pack away the FOMO – fear of missing out).
Now through January is the time to start fostering some ideas, connect with others and find your next passion project. We will be kicking off 2020 with our Community Summit and providing project mentoring and fun growth throughout the year.
Here’s what some of our timelines look like:
November 13 Café – we talk about Belonging. Our Vital Signs report is a great tool to measure the 8 key areas of quality of life in our community and is full of information we, as a community, want to do.
December 11 Café – We want to share with you what Our High River and the Capacity Building Project has been doing for the past couple year….and share in some ideas and connections for January’s Summit.
January 8 Café – New Year Connection, What’s your WORD for 2020 and details for the annual Community Summit.
Summit – January 23-25, 2019 SAVE THE DATES….more details coming soon.
We have also launched Idea Thursdays……check out social media at NOON on Thursdays for a video about ideas, fun thoughts and community activity – with our special guest Janelle Kennedy: Community Development Coach with the Town of High River.
Message us for a coffee party (we don’t like to call things meetings anymore) and we can connect and help you with you ideas, link you to more people and resources and just be your cheerleader.
We want to help you #ownit.