The Delivery Approach Rather Than The Distracted Approach

There are many ways to do fine work. Some people aim to follow the delivery approach rather than being distracted. They are then more able to focus on doing their best to achieve their goals.

Different people follow this approach in different ways. The following sections explore some of the routes they make take.

The Disciplined Approach

Some people seem to have natural self-discipline in the activities where they excel. They seem to have a different version of OCD – Obsessive Compulsive Discipline.

Some people follow this approach when pursuing a passion. They may do so when following good habits as an artist, athlete, dancer, scientist or working in another field.

Such people love following their passion. Some may also learn how to enjoy the journey – such as enjoying following their daily disciplines – as much as reaching the goal.

Some people learn to follow the disciplined approach later in life. They may focus their efforts on doing certain kinds of work, following their vocation or aiming to achieve a specific goal.

Such people may learn how to be good at priority management. Some take they following approach:

They clarify the specific goals they want to achieve and the benefits of achieving this picture of success;

They clarify the key strategies they can follow to give themselves the greatest chances of success;

They translate these strategies into a clear action plan, move into action  and do their best to achieve the picture of success.

Everybody is different. So it is important for each person to find and follow their chosen disciplines. These may not be understood by other people, but the key is to make sure the disciplines work for them.

Creative workers often follow certain rituals to focus on pursuing their craft. They pursue these habits without thinking. They reserve their thinking power by cutting out distractions and developing their work

Mason Currey described how such people apply elements of this approach in his books Daily Rituals: How Artists Work and Daily Rituals: Women At Work. Here is an excerpt from what Mason says about Maya Angelou. This is followed by other examples from the books.

For many years, Angelou worked in hotel or motel rooms, the more anonymous the better. In 1983 she told an interviewer:

“I keep a hotel room in which I do my work – a tiny, mean room with just a bed, and sometimes, if I can find it, a face basin. I keep a dictionary, a bible, a deck of cards and a bottle of sherry in the room.  

“I try to get there around 7, and I work until 2 in the afternoon. If the work is going badly, I stay until 12.30. If it’s going well, I’ll stay as long as it is going well. It’s lonely, and it’s marvellous.”

Descartes liked to linger in bed, his mind wandering in sleep through woods, gardens, and enchanted palaces where he experienced ‘every pleasure imaginable’.

George Gershwin worked for twelve hours a day from late morning to midnight, composing at the piano in pyjamas, bathrobe and slippers. Igor Stravinsky was never able to compose unless he was sure no one could hear him and, when blocked, stood on his head to clear the brain.

Barbara Hepworth sculpted outdoors, Janet Frame wore earmuffs as she worked to block out noise. Kate Chopin wrote with her six children ‘swarming around her’ whereas the artist Rosa Bonheur filled her bedroom with the sixty birds that inspired her work.

Imagine that you are aiming to do a piece of work and want to deliver certain results. Bearing these in mind, what may be the disciplines you can follow to do your best to achieve these aims?

If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.

The Deep Work Approach

Many people love to absorb themselves in doing deep work rather than shallow work. One approach they take is to focus on the following themes.

Drive

They feel driven to do a certain activity and decide to work towards achieving a specific goal.

Deep Work

They follow certain disciplines, cut out distractions and absorb themselves completely in the activity to do deep work.

Delivery

They continue to do their best and find solutions to challenges on the way towards achieving their goal.

Different people do different things to take such steps. One approach they have in common, however, is to set aside time to go through a process of absorption, adventure and achievement.

Cal Newport’s book Deep Work helped many people to take this approach. Here is an extract from his book that shows the benefits of doing such work.

Imagine that you want to follow elements of this approach. This can involve focusing on the following themes.

Drive

Looking at your own life, what are the specific activities you feel driven to do? What are those that give you positive energy? Or, as the Gallup Organization says when helping a person to find their strengths:

What are the things you cannot help but do?

Different people give different answers to these questions. Here are things that some of the mentees I have worked with mentioned when exploring this topic.

I feel driven:

To encourage people … To help people to find positive ways to manage pain … To make films about fixing old Land Rovers … To teach people how to write best-selling pop music … To show people how they can use technology to simplify their lives.

Great workers often build what they feel driven to do. They then make some decisions by exploring the following questions.

How can I translate this drive into doing a piece of work? What are the real results I want to achieve? What are the key strategies I can follow to achieve the picture of success?

Imagine that you have focused on something you feel driven to do and have set a specific goal. It may then be time to move on to the next stage.

Deep Work

People who do such work sometimes have a certain history. Some grew up in environments where they were given the opportunity to take the following steps.

Such individuals absorbed themselves in deep play. They got used to pursuing a passion, following certain principles and achieving positive results.

Some then focused on deep learning and explored the things they found fascinating. This sometimes involved gathering experience, making sense of experience and applying these lessons in their lives.

Delivery

These experiences provided a good grounding. They got into the habit of following their own rhythm and then following certain disciplines when doing a piece of work.

Some individuals also follow certain rituals. They may slow down, go for awalk or rehearse what they are going to do next. They then click into action and absorb themselves in doing the work.

Such workers aim to be fully present. One approach is for them to prepare properly. It is then to have a positive attitude, follow their chosen principles and do their best to achieve the picture of success.

Imagine that you want to follow elements of the deep work approach when doing a piece of work. How can you follow this in your own way?

If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme.

The Dealing With
Distractions Approach

Great workers love to work towards achieving their chosen goals. Some learn how to, as far as possible, prevent any potential distractions or dramas that may divert them on the way towards the destination.

Some do this by putting themselves into a situation where they are less likely to be distracted by certain events. This is an approach I saw in action early in my career.

During my twenties I met a famous woman novelist who described how she focused on her work. The author of several best-selling books, she described her working day in the following way.

“My day starts by feeding the family and taking the kids to school. Driving back home, I plan what I am going to write that day. Moving to my desk, I then have five hours where I can concentrate fully on my work.

“Sometimes there are emergencies, such as a call from school if one of the children has got ill. But for the most part I am able to become totally absorbed in the work.”

This is a pattern I saw repeated by other writers. During the early 1970s a group of us travelled from London to Cornwall to meet another famous author.

We arrived at around 11.00, but the writer continued to follow his daily creative ritual until 13.00. Only then did he emerge to spend two hours answering our questions. He believed in doing the work by cutting out any other distractions.

The Innovation Takes Place Far
Away From The Innovation Approach

Many innovators try to spend time away from institutions in order to develop new ideas. The institution may be a building, organisation or another body that has an ambivalent attitude towards creative thinking.

Some innovators may still belong to an organisation but they create some kind of distance. This may be a physical distance, such as working at home or in their own laboratory. Or it may be a psychological distance, such as doing things differently.

Several years ago I worked with a pioneering film maker who was invited to lead a traditional organisation. His brief was to shift the culture and make it fit for purpose.

The Board asked him to take over because he was known for delivering success. They expressed this in the following way.

“We love your energy and innovative approach. We must embrace those qualities to survive in the modern world.”

Arriving on the first day, he was given a tour of the building. He was then told about the schedule that had been arranged.

“We have put together a plan for your first two months. Here is a schedule of all the committees you need to attend.

“The diary looks full but it is important that you meet these people and attend these functions. We are sure that you can use your personality to win over even the toughest doubters.”

The person attended some functions but then created a different schedule. Within six months he had delivered a superb campaign that won national recognition for the organisation.

The success was not appreciated, however, because he had failed to use the organisation’s traditional channels. He left to do imaginative work that has been shown on many television networks.

Being innovative often calls for people having the freedom to think rather than deal with the internal noise created by institutions. People need to spend time focusing on creative solutions rather than trying to persuade committees. Buckminster Fuller expressed this in the following way.

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

Sometimes it is easier to make this happen when breathing the fresh air. One person expressed this in the following way.

“I spent years working inside organisations trying to persuade people to change. But I was battling against the nature of systems theory.

“Systems move towards homeostasis – the drive to return to their present state. Sometimes this can be good because it can create stability. But sometimes it can be dangerous because it can prevent development.

“Systems sometimes drive out the creativity they need to survive. So I have found other ways to develop new ideas.”

The Dealing With Dramas Approach

Great workers may sometimes need to deal with dramas on the journey. They then channel their feelings into working towards achieving the desired goals.

They do not get distracted by such issues or their own emotional ups or downs. They do not, when working in organisations, get caught up in turf wars or game playing. They do not get side-tracked by individuals who choose to be dramatic or have serial problems.

Such workers anticipate the potential dramas they may encounter on the journey. They then explore the follow themes.

How can I prevent these dramas happening? How can I deal with any dramas if, despite my best efforts, they do happen?

How can I buy time to think? How can I focus on the real results to achieve in the short-term and long-term? How can I do my best to find possible solutions to the dramas? How can I implement these solutions?

How can I return to following the required disciplines? How can I get a quick success? How can I continue doing good work on the way towards the destination?

Great workers regain their rhythm and continue to do good work. They do this because they have rehearsed how to prevent and manage dramas.

There are many ways to do fine work. One approach is to follow the delivery approach rather than the distracted approach.

Here is the final exercise on this theme. Imagine that you are going to do a piece of work. What may be the potential distractions or dramas you may face? How can you prevent or deal with these on the journey.

If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.