In Gary Keller’s book "The ONE Thing," he explains that “great businesses are built one productive person at a time.” This notion really stuck with me because the first question that came to mind is “how do you drive productivity?” Gary Keller suggests that people are productive when their purpose and priorities are aligned. I couldn’t agree more. But how many people have a clearly defined purpose in their minds and consciously make decisions and priorities around it? So many of us spend our days dealing with fires and any number of things that cross our desk, without giving much thought to what our purpose is, and whether or not these things are helping us achieve that purpose. The challenge is stepping back long enough during our busy days to analyze the tasks and projects at hand and whether or not they fit in line with our purpose. The key is to focus on furthering the purpose and eliminating distractions that detract from it. If our analysis of our priorities reveals misalignment, then the next step is to analyze why they ended up on our list in the first place. Can we delegate any of the tasks? Are they even worth anyone’s time at all? Sometimes it is as simple as learning how to say “no” to incoming requests that are misaligned with our purpose before they even reach our priorities list.

It is amazing how liberating it is to look at your to-do list and see a manageable list of carefully selected items that align with your purpose. Tackling that list to completion is what we call productivity, and a team of productive people is what we call success.

The Culture Counts blog is a discussion of law firm culture and legal innovation, including topics such as effective leadership, employee engagement, workplace culture, ideal work environment, company core values, and workplace productivity.  

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Klemchuk LLP is a litigation, intellectual property, transactional, and international business law firm dedicated to protecting innovation. The firm provides tailored legal solutions to industries including software, technology, retail, real estate, consumer goods, ecommerce, telecommunications, restaurant, energy, media, and professional services. The firm focuses on serving mid-market companies seeking long-term, value-added relationships with a law firm. Learn more about experiencing law practiced differently and our local counsel practice.

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