Chris Marlow

Empowering leaders (and tribes) to launch movements for doing good.

Archives For Productivity

Be Brave and Ship Your Work

Chris Marlow — November 7, 2012 — 2 Comments

Realartistsship big

I wrote this email (below) to the Help One Now team a few hours after we launched the Legacy Project. Like any project, we’re thrilled that we launched. Our team was a little tired and fatigued, but excited and motivated. We stayed up late into the night (Monday) to wrap up details, before we hit the “go live button.”

The first day was amazing. We funded phase one and now we’re in process of funding phase two.

We still have some bugs to fix, some designs to make and various components we want to add along the way. In other words, ITS NOT PERFECT.

But, what is really important is our project HAS shipped. The dream is public. Within 5 hours, close to 75 people had already donated to this dream. That would have never happened if we chose not to launch.

You have a dream, work hard and then ship it. And then work hard on making your dream better, once it’s shipped.

Don’t make excuses, don’t wait for, “the right time.” That’s called procrastination.

Instead, be brave and go live with your dream. When you go live, that’s when the real work begins.

I would recommend Seth Godin’s seminal books in which he discusses what it means to ship. Start with Tribes and then read Linchpin. (affiliate links)

And then do work that matters.

—-

Friends,

I’m reflecting on the Legacy Project launch, and I remember the words of Seth Godin. He talks about how most projects never get launched. Usually, it’s because people are scared to fail or worried that the project is not 100% ready. That kind of thinking will create failure and a culture of procrastination. (Of course a project needs to be good before you go live, but not perfect.)

Today, we shipped.

Once again, we shipped. Our culture is to get things done, ship and then improve the project as they’re live.

And that’s why I’m proud of our team. We fought super hard to get this project launched right after two massive undertakings. (the bloggers trip and our rebrand).

And now we get to see the impact that our hard work has created.

Chris

In Leadership, Legacy Project, Work Legacy Project, Productivity, Seth Godin, Work

Fighting the Resistance.

Chris Marlow — November 5, 2012 — Leave a comment

Steepandslippery

It’s Monday. Usually I love Mondays. But not this Monday. I have much of work to do, but I don’t have the focus or the drive to get started.

I’m sure you’ve been there too, maybe you’re there today.

Yesterday I spoke twice. I came home exhausted and tired. I feel the pace of the last four months catching up to me. I need rest. I need time to process and think. But we have no time. We have no rest. At least not this week.

We have work to do. A project to launch. An opportunity to seize.

I leave tomorrow for 6 days of travel, and we launch the Legacy Project.

So this morning, instead of writing, I read Steven Pressfield’s book “Do The Work.“ I knew resistance was calling my name. I need to fight it, I can’t let it drag me down.

We’ve come too far to stop now. God has been too gracious. Momentum is spinning.

Steven defines resistance as this:

Resistance is a repelling force. It’s negative. It’s aim is to shove us away and distract us, prevent us from doing our work.

I’m convinced that all great work is done by people who refuse to give up or quit. This week my mind and body wants me to stop. But the work must be done, so I will fight the resistance and pray for God’s strength and do the work that I’m called to do.

What resistance are you fighting? How will you overcome it?

Photo Lindsay Edmunds

In Non Profit Leadership, Work Leadership, Productivity, Work

Stop Talking and Start Working

Chris Marlow — January 26, 2011 — 1 Comment

I was writing this morning on this exact topic, when I saw this from Don Miller.

“I think half the battle of a creator is in finishing their projects. I wonder how many of the worlds greatest creators never created anything great, because while they may have had the intelligence and even the skill, they weren’t finishers. Finishing is part of the art.”

Finishing is part of the art.

Do you hear that? If not, please take a moment and let it sink in.
So much art (work) is lost because it never gets finished. I hate that! Sometimes you get a vision, then you have to shut-up and work. For many people, it’s important that they STOP talking about the vision. (until the vision is NAILED down with proof in writing – if it’s not written down, it’s not a vision, it’s just a dream, which means you’re not leading)

It’s also important to stop meeting new people to discuss the vision. More talk and more meetings usually create more work or sideways energy. It’s not BAD work, just more work. The project expands, the visionary gets lost in the muck-and-mire, then the visionary hits that project plateau. Exhaustion sets in, too many voices and opinions create a scattered visionary, and eventually the art is not finished, or if it is finished it’s late- too late!

Say no to meetings, don’t seek any more advice. Hide out, work, create a plan-of-action, prove it on paper and test it in real life situations. (implementation)

This could be how it looks in real life:

- Dream is birthed.
- Data is collected. (research and references)
- Advice is sought, for a season.
- Project is confirmed and the real work is started.
- Dream is tested in real life.
- Dream is released and the visionary once again goes public to create a tribe!

I’ve learned the hard way, but I think it’s worth repeating, stop talking and start working!

In Vision Productivity

Link Love

Chris Marlow — January 14, 2009 — 3 Comments

I wanted to share some quick links that I think are valuable:

My friend John who blogs at Creativityist has a great post comparing GTD software options Things vs. Omnifocus. Many people are trying to choose which is better now that Things is out-of-beta and you must purchase a license.

NYT posted an article on Mark Driscoll: Who Would Jesus Smack Down. HT: Laura

Atheist proclaims, “Africa truly needs God.” Very interesting, I read this last week and Dodson linked it today.

Steven Bush asked a really good question, “What is your church doing in your community?” Go and respond!

Nick has stopped blogging until the conflict with Israel/Palestine is resolved.

Interview with NT Wright: Responding to Piper on Justification.

In Link Love Culture, Productivity

Daily Productivity

Chris Marlow — January 7, 2009 — Leave a comment

Productivity is a never ending frustration for most of us. Trying to manage our lives is complex and tiring. But it must be done. I’ve struggled to be productive in December. I assume it was the travel and holidays. But I did fail to execute one of my key philosophies of my daily rhythm.

Usually every morning I write down my three key action items of the day. So for today its:

1. Prepare for Help End Local Poverty’s strategy meeting that I have for tomorrow.
2. Clear email inbox. (It’s been weeks)
3. Make sure all key docs get sent to the printer. (which is basically delegated)

Those are my big action items that I must get done. Then I write a secondary list:

1. Write blog post.
2. Read 2 chapters of a book. (this is research and education for non-profit)
3. Send emails to key contacts.
4. Study for a future article I’m writing on poverty.

I use Things as my key organizer. things_feature_iphone Every morning I take a look at all that needs to get done and make decisions on today’s agenda. For me this is really helpful. If I do this on a consistent basis I tend to feel good about my rhythm but not overwhelmed, yet I’m productive and efficient.

In Productivity Productivity, Rhythm

Strategy Is Vital

Chris Marlow — November 24, 2008 — Leave a comment

By nature I’m a strategist. I can’ help but think that way. If I don’t have a plan, I feel like I will waste time doing “good” things but not “great” things. Every Monday morning the first thing I do after devotions is plan out my week.

My ultimate goal is not to get to technical. I leave plenty of wiggle room. But I always ask myself the following question:

“What needs to get done this week…And if It does not get done it will actually hurt the organization?”

After I ask that question I work backwards. Usually the list is really short. My goal is to have two or three big items; these items require most of my focus and demand a lot of energy throughout the week. Once I have this info in place I can understand how my week will shape up. The most important thing is making sure I don’t get stuck doing all the things that don’t have to get done but will keep you busy. This is a killer to any great organization and will ruin one’s productivity in a heartbeat.