Spence Smith

I heard this from a new friend of mine who was updating a presentation he makes from time to time.

Of course, I lit up when he said this because we have been juicing at home since the first of the year and if there is one thing we have learned… there is some juice that’s worth the squeeze… and some that’s not.

It’s a question that’s been with me since he said it.

Think about how many situations in life you could ask this question around.

Is the effort I’m about to put into this next thing going to be worth the outcome that it produces?

Is the amount of time I’m putting into this project worth the end result?

Am I working to hard for something that won’t really happen or won’t really matter in the end?

How can I focus my energy into things that really matter?

How can I work on something that’s going to have focused results? Meaningful results? Or heck… that’s going to produce income!

What kind of time can I give away now that will benefit me down the road with a paying project?

What can I give away of myself to help out others?

What are you working on right now that you could walk away from knowing it won’t produce much of anything for you?

What could you be working on right now that would be worth the squeeze?

Ok people… let’s get after it.

Go squeeze some good juice.

This past Friday I got to take of tour of the LIVESTRONG office. ( Thanks Biju for introducing me to Chris Brewer). While Chris was explaining to me all things LIVESTRONG, he also explained to me the work environment that allows their staff to be so effective.

Photo Credit: LIVESTRONG HQ Facebook Page

I saw a lot in the short 30 minutes I was there.

Every piece of art on display was either donated from their supporters or Lance Armstrong’s personal collection and had very specific meaning to its placement in their office. The symbolism of “Hope Lives” was everywhere and the mission of why they do what they do was the focal point of everything. Not to mention all the woodwork was repurposed wood from the previous owner of their building when it was a warehouse.

It was the greenest building I’ve ever been in.

Well thought out, simple, super efficient and inexpensive to maintain.

As I walked around, I saw a huge open space of cubical’s that stood no higher than 4 feet tall. Not six feet tall like most of us are used to seeing or working in. Even the CEO, Doug Ulman, operates in an open space like this. As Chris continued to tell me about their work environment, I suddenly realized what he had been telling me about their workspace.

It was all designed around transparency within community. Four foot cubicals keep everyone within eye contact of each other which tends to allow for people to share ideas and conversations more openly.

There were separate stand alone rooms for group meetings. If the room had a door, then one of the four walls is all glass.

Again, transparency… even with a closed door.

Then there were a few enclosures set up for people to meet or just hang out, relax and get a little refreshed. No doors were on these enclosures and usually had only two walls (as you can see in the photo above). If you were to meet with the CEO, you would be meeting in an enclosure similar to this. There were no two meeting spaces a like.

The way the stand alone rooms and enclosures were positioned creates an atmosphere of working in a neighborhood of friends. No two enclosures lined up with each other and they all opened up into the open space. I loved it.

The most intriguing part was this.

There are no sick days, vacation days or office hours.

Exactly.

Take time off when you’re sick. Set your schedule and take vacation as you need it… as long as you are getting your work done.

I love this. Anytime you give people ownership to make something happen and equip them with the tools to get the job done… people… teams… organizations succeed.

I’m fortunate to work from home and my hours are somewhat flexible as long as I’m getting my job done and make myself available.

I see this happening more and more in the work environment and it’s being met with great results. ( Check out the book Why Work Suck And How To Fix It ) But it bums me out to see some bosses who are a little to old school and not trusting enough to let their employees do their job the best way they know how. As if being at the office from 9-5 means you are getting your job done.

I’m a pretty big advocate on creating the right workspace. If you are like me, I can’t get anything done if the space around me is cluttered and feels too closed off.

Getting the right amount of natural light and fresh air really do make a difference for me. Even if I go to a coffee shop to get some work done. I need to be setting in the right place in the coffee shop in order to feel like I can be more productive.

Setting yourself up to succeed at what you do is so important. It’s key.

Don’t overlook or underestimate the importance of the environment you work in. It could make or break the experience for you and the way you perform in your job.

When I think about all the detail that went into LIVESTRONG HQ.

It comes down to this…

Creating the best work environment professionally and relationally so that their staff can focus all their energy in serving those with cancer. The less they have to worry about in their immediate space, the more they can help others around the world.

B y the way, if you would like to check them out and support them, click here livestrong.org. I do.

How about you? What is your workspace like? Work from home? Work in the office? How do you set yourself up to be more productive and do your job well?

For most of you that know me, you know that I’m usually operating at a 15 on a scale from 1-10. I am busy. I find that it’s the result of trying to have a balanced life of my passion for my job and my passion for my personal life. This has been on my mind lately because honestly. I feel really busy right now and it’s TIRING!

I’m traveling right now more than I have in a long time. It’s not the easy domestic travel either. It’s the once a month going overseas travel mixed in with the domestic stuff. Granted… I do love it and I’m really really excited to be going to India for the first time in April.

Then you add Ironman training, which do to travel is suffering just a bit, and then you add in everything else I like to do and the next thing I know… BAM! Out of time!

SO… Here’s my question for you time managment people out there. What do you do to manage your time so that you can be more effective on the job and in your personal life? Please tell me… this inquiring mind wants to know.

Here’s a great blog post from Mark Cuban this morning…he nails it. Read it Here.

Here are two statements from the post below.

"In sports, the only thing a player or coach can truly control is
effort. The same applies to business. The only thing any entrepreneur,
salesperson or anyone in any position can control is their effort."

"And finally, I had to make sure I wasn’t lying to myself about how hard
I was working. It would have been easy to judge effort by how many
hours a day passed by while I was at work. That’s the worst way to
measure effort. Effort is measured by setting goals and getting
results. What did i need to do to close this account. What did I need
to do to win this segment of business. What did i need to do to
understand this technology or that business better than anyone. What
did I need to do to find an edge. Where does that edge come from and
how was I going to get there."

One of my new favorite blogs is called Bootstrapper. Here’s a great post for those of you looking for a bit of inspiration to get things going in life.

What Do You Really Want To Do In Life?

Tuesday, November 20, 2007 at 8:00am by Raj Dash