Pete Rose Never Sold Hot Dogs (How to Strucure Your Day for High-Performance)

"What is Pete Rose famous for?" 

Each time I ask this question when I’m teaching a group of construction professionals about high-performance, they give me the same answer: "Gambling"

In 1987, when he was the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, he bet a minimum of $10,000 a day on 52 Reds games. If it’s any consolation, Rose claims he never bet against his team. As punishment Pete Rose was banned for life from baseball. 

His gambling as a manager overshadowed his incredible achievements as a player

According to Wikipedia: "Rose is the all-time MLB leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562), at-bats (14,05...He won three World Series rings, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Gloves, and the Rookie of the Year Award, and also made 17 All-Star appearances at an unequaled five positions." 

In a 24-year major league career, from 1963 to 1986, Rose performed at a high-level. His longevity and consistency demonstrate that day after day, year after year, for almost a quarter of a century, his professional life was structured around being an elite baseball player.

Structure is vital to success 

It’s not enough to be talented or to want to win. In any endeavor, including business (and particularly construction), if you are going enjoy consistent success over a long period of time you must have the discipline to structure each day to achieve high-performance. 

From overwhelm to freedom

Implementing structure doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does require self-discipline to follow a simple process, every day. If you follow this process you will get rid of the overwhelm from which many construction executives suffer and be free to focus on the few tasks that if done excellently will help you achieve the outcomes you are responsible for.

How to structure your day for high-performance 

A high-performing day begins the day before. Each evening, you should go to bed with a clear idea of what you need to focus on the next day to be successful. 

To make this happen, go step-by-step through this process: Analyze, Prune, Block

Step 1: Analyze 

Write down everything that you need to do the next day 

The list will probably contain 5-15 items. As you look at the list, a pit in your stomach may form as you think of all the stuff you’ve got to deal with: unpleasant conversations, tedious meetings, mundane procedures 

A word of warning

Don’t fake the list. Make sure you include everything that you’ve committed to do (meetings, bids, etc.), and things that are likely to come up (interruptions, other people’s "fires"). 

For example, think of the "green" Project Manager that’s dealing with a tough project and a difficult owner. 

If you’re like many construction leaders you’ve "trained" them that whenever they face conflict with an owner, all they need to do is interrupt you and you’ll stop what you’re doing, run into a phone booth, quick change to Superman, and heroically save the day.

If you know that interruption is going to happen at some point tomorrow and it will require your attention, write it down. 

Your high-performance sweet spot 

Now you’re ready to analyze. Your list will include things you could do, things you should do, and things you must do. 

Ask yourself:

• Will these tasks help me achieve the vision I’ve set out for my business? 
• Does the list align with the strategy I’ve chosen to achieve my vision? 
• Do the tasks give me the opportunity to make my unique contribution to the company, which if done excellently, will make a real difference to the business? 

If you subject your list to these questions of vision, strategy, and contribution, you are much more likely to be able to identify the tasks that are in "Your High-Performance Sweet Spot", where vision, strategy, and unique contribution intersect.

Now you are ready for the next step. It’s the most difficult, but also the most fun and liberating part of the process...

Step 2: Prune

Be brutal, be lazy, be bold

Great leaders spend as much time as possible, every day, getting in, and staying in their "High-Performance Sweet Spot". They practice being brutal (delete), lazy (defer), and bold (delegate).

Be brutal 

Get comfortable with saying "No". It’s the first thing you should say to yourself when you look at your list. Determine that you are not going to waste time on stuff that doesn’t matter or isn’t the highest and best use of your energy and effort. Delete it. 

Be lazy

Practice procrastination (that’s what I mean by being lazy). If the bid date is two weeks away, and you only need a week to work on it, don’t waste time tomorrow stuffing it into your schedule. Defer it.

Be bold 

Get someone else to do it. If you are honest, most of the stuff on your list could be done by someone else. But if you like to play the hero, or if you don’t trust others, or if you’ve failed to train your team, your schedule will be stuffed with tasks that are not in your high-performance sweet spot. 

Teach your Project Managers how to have tough conversations, stop micro-managing your Estimators, hold your Superintendents accountable for a quality pre-job walk. Delegate, delegate, delegate. 

Once you’ve pruned, and you’ve marked tasks to be deleted, deferred, or delegated, you’re ready for the final step of the process...

Step 3: Block 

How to block your time 

After analyzing and pruning your list, the structure of the next day should be taking shape. Now you must set aside time to focus on the things that only you can do, that if done excellently, will have the biggest impact on your company. 

You have to block time dedicated to high-performance. 

Here are three steps to make blocking effective:

1.   Give yourself permission 

2.   Eliminate distractions 

3.   Discipline yourself 

Give yourself permission

The problem with a lot of business owners is that they feel guilty if they shut their office door, leave the office, or turn off their phone, to focus on high-value task. Stop feeling guilty. Be crystal clear on what’s most important, and give yourself permission to block out time in your schedule to do it. 

Eliminate distractions 

Right now, as I write, I’m at my local Peets Coffee. I’ve set a timer for 90 minutes. I’ve turned off the internet on my computer, and turned on a Mozart playlist on my phone, and put in my headphones. I have 42 minutes left, and I’m dedicating myself to finishing this article.

Giving myself time constraints, blocking the internet, and putting on classical music helps me to get rid of the distractions that will keep me from performing my task at the highest possible level. 

What do you need to do to eliminate the distractions that keep you from producing your best work?  

Discipline yourself

A good definition of courage is "doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, whether I feel like it or not." 

I didn’t feel like writing today, but I know the value that my audience receives from my articles, and I know it’s one of the main ways I have of establishing my credibility as someone who can help construction companies be successful. 

So I got in my car, drove to the coffee shop, set my timer and started writing. I feel like I have a long way to go when it comes to self-discipline, but I know the more I practice it, the easier it gets.

How can you improve your self-discipline? What are the hard things, tough conversations, or difficult decisions you need to set aside time to address, but have been avoiding? 

Make a commitment today to block that time and choose to do what needs to be done regardless of how you feel.

Everything goes sideways

Erwin Rommel was a German officer in World War II. Besides participating in one of the plots to kill Hitler, he was also a brilliant fighting general, and a realist when it came to planning. 

He said: "No plan survives contact with the enemy".

That’s one of the main pushbacks I get from construction professionals when I’m describing this process:

"It’s all well and good planning the night before, but when I get into the office or on the job site, everything goes sideways."

Despite this, you have to still make the effort

Say you block out two periods of time to work on high-priority tasks and the circumstances of the day ruin one of the blocks, at least you’re able to work on the other one.

Stand shoulder to shoulder

One of my clients is a large, multi-division, specialty contractor. They’ve been in business over twenty-five years, and have set a vision to pass on the company to the next generation of leaders. That vision drives a crucial aspect of their core strategy: developing internal leadership   

The two founding partners are still involved in the day-to-day, and they divide business development and project management responsibilities between them. 

Recently I was discussing the "Analyze, Prune, Block" process with the partner who handles the project management.

With their company vision and strategy in, mind he understands the importance of blocking out time to focus on making his unique contribution to the company, which if done excellently, will make a real difference: mentoring the next generation of leadership

Whether it’s taking one of them to lunch to get to know them better, or teaching them how to address problems on a project (and not solving the problems for them), he is committed to blocking out time to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with his up and comers, and pass on what he’s learned about building successful projects and running a profitable construction company. 

Set up your structure

To make the most of this process, commit to doing whatever is necessary to get in your "High-Performance Sweet Spot". 

Before you leave the office, or just before you go to bed, structure the next day for success by using "Analyze, Prune, Block."

With your company vision and strategy in mind, make your list of tasks. Be brutal, lazy, and bold, and narrow the list down. 

Finally, block out time, eliminate distractions, and discipline yourself to focus on high-performance of the tasks that will help you make your unique contribution to your company.

Pete Rose never sold hot dogs 

There were many things that Pete Rose could have done very successfully for the Cincinnati Reds during a game. 

Imagine how much money the Reds could have made if between innings Pete was up in the stand selling hot dogs (particularly if he autographed the hotdog wrappers).

But Pete Rose never sold hot dogs, because that wasn’t the highest and best use of his time during the game. Instead, he sat in the dugout "doing nothing", preparing himself to perform the task that he excelled at: hitting the baseball. 

Despite his gambling infamies, Pete Rose will always be remembered for his exploits on the baseball diamond. 

He obsessed over structuring his professional life around understanding and getting in his high-performance sweet spot, doing the tasks he was uniquely suited for, at the highest possible level.

Do you want to escape mediocrity?

Structuring your day for high-performance is one part of the High-Performance Framework I teach my construction clients. 

If you’re a construction company owner or executive, and you’d like to learn more about how to consistently perform at a high level, join me for the webinar I’m hosting on June 21st, 2018, at 11:00 AM PST

"How You Can Escape Mediocrity and Achieve High-Performance in Your Construction Company"

In addition to the Block, Prune, Analyze aspect of High Performance, you’ll also learn:

• The Importance of Task/Action Goals3 Unapparent Secrets of High-Performers
• How to Identify Your Most Important Outcome,
• Your Most Important Task that Leads to that Outcome, and How to Improve Your Performance of that task. 

Join me for the webinar by clicking the yellow button and saving your seat. 

Hurry, seating is limited to 100 people and the spots fill up fast.