John Cox

Being High Maintenance

For an introduction to this article, please read the basis of my 7 Habits for Highly Productive People. I will probably have to change the title of this once I hear from Covey's lawyers, but in the meantime it works for me.

Being high maintenance has such a negative connotation around the term that I hesitate to use it. The word has a stigma from being a drama queen to being absolutely unbearable. I tended to use this term with folks that I felt were unrealistic in their expectations, and whom pushed everything off on others.

However, I recently came across a very good book which I feel is a must read on your personal MBA program. The book is not a personal productivity book, but rather a book on management of high maintenance employees and how to deal with them on your teams, or as your boss. Katherine Leviss' book, Managing High Maintenance Employees has changed my working definition and also made me think to add it to my list of habits. While many of these traits are personality driven, I believe that even the non-HMHP individual could incorporate some of these habits into their repertoire of personal productivity.

While reading the book, I realized that I was the classic HMHP personality. It's been described as many different things in the past, Type-A, Driver, etc. I like Ms. Leviss definition though. I have both the positive and negative habits of the personality type. I am very competitive, outcome orient person. I can be terse in my communication style. I tend to not work in groups very well except when I feel that I have an integral role. I take risks, and I am extremely decisive and get frustrated with those that do not. There are some very good traits mixed in with some less desirable traits that I have. All in all, I am HMHP employee for any company, and that also makes me a very good asset for any organization.

Driven to success

I am absolutely driven to complete a project. This I feel goes a long way to my personal productivity. I don't only drive myself for success, but I drive others. I don't necessarily take no for an answer when I understand that there is a way to accomplish an objective. What this means is I don't let others become a barrier for my own success. I challenge others to do better, and in turn I tend to be more productive.

How this pertains to your productivity is you can not leave your fate in others hands. Be persistent in your communication style. Don't let others be your constraint, as you have enough constraints as is. Now, just because you have a different communication method than I doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be passive when it comes to your productivity. Life is much to short for being mediocre, and being passive is a sure path to mediocrity.

Decisiveness equals higher productivity

Being able to make a decision goes along way to determine your productivity rate. If you mull over decisions for a great deal of time, you are putting off the important. I am never afraid to make a mistake, and I make many. However, I am afraid of not making a decision. The longer it takes you to determine your path to an end, is the longer that it takes to get to that end. Denseness is a lost art in business.

Likewise, taking a risk from time to time will also help your productivity. Taking calculated risks help you to learn new ways to approach a problem. They help you learn. Sometimes they work out, and sometimes they do not. However, for every risk that you take, you always learn something. Use that learning as a way to be more productive in the future. I have absolutely no patience for repetitive tasks, as I believe there is always a way to do things better. If you approach every task in that light, you will be well on your way to writing your own productivity essays.

Everyone is busy, you have responsibility

Understand this fact, you are responsible and accountable for your job. When you don't complete a task due to not having the tools needed, that is your fault. It is your job to get the tools necessary. If you don't have a tool necessary, then start nagging. Nagging isn't a bad thing when you are accountable for completing a task. Trust me, the first question any manager will ask once you say you didn't have this or that to complete a job will be, 'why didn't you tell me?'.

Being high maintenance under my definition, and not necessarily Ms. Leviss' means to accountable for your actions. Be accountable for what you can control, and if you don't have control over a situation, then ensure that you communicate your needs. You are responsible for your productivity, not others. Not your peers, not your manager. Not your CEO. Each of those folks are relying on you though to be productive.

Sum it up

Don't let others be a constraint in your productivity. Drive the organization to success, and yourself in the process.

Be decisive and take risks. You waste less time, and you learn from your mistakes and successes.

You, and you alone, are accountable for your personal productivity.