Design Work

What do you want work to be like a year from now?

If it continues to be like it has been for the past year, will you be happy?

It’s the beginning of annual planning season in many countries. Budgets are being set. Engagement surveys are landing. And it’s the perfect time to ask: What do you want work to be like a year from now?

Because if you want it to be better than today - less chaotic, more strategic, more energising - then something has to change.

And that change starts now.

Engagement is your early warning system

You might not be seeing high resignations right now. It’s an employer’s market. But that won’t last forever.

Low engagement is the canary in the coal mine. If your people are disengaged, frustrated, or just going through the motions, you’re sitting on a risk. The next Great Resignation could decimate your workforce... or you could use this time to build strong foundations.

The choice is yours

If you keep doing what you’ve always done…

You know the quote. And it’s true.

If you want:

• More time and space for strategic work

• Less firefighting and more focus

• A culture that motivates and empowers

Then you need to do things differently.

But what does ‘different’ actually look like?

That’s the tough bit. I know you're already trying. Hard. But effort isn’t the same as impact. If you want real change, you need to redesign work deliberately.

That means:

• Stopping to review what’s working and what’s not

• Resetting how you work, not just what you work on

• Creating space for your team to solve problems, not just survive them

You know the other quote too... If not now, then when? If not me, then who?

The first step?

Set up a brainstorm with me.

Let’s explore what better could look like, and how to get there.

Productivity Tip of the Day

• Stop and think. What do I want work to be like a year from now? If it's different from today, what is my first step to make it different?

• Take one step to automating something. If you do a task frequently, each time you do it take one more step towards automating it.

• Check in with your people. Ask them if there are frustrations getting in the way of delivering their outcomes efficiently. What are they? How can we solve them?