Face time

Image: Malvestida on Unsplash

For the past 18 months or so, I have had Cal Newport's book, Slow Productivity, sitting on the to-read section of my bookshelf. The book was recommended to me by a wonderful reader of "To Be Clear..."a while back. Ironically, given one of the tenets of the book is that “A more natural, slower, varied pace to work is the foundation of true productivity in the long term”, I have not yet found the time to read it. Hopefully telling you about it might provide the push I need!

We live in a world in which speed is often touted either as a virtue ("Buy this and do X in 60 seconds or less...") or condemned as a vice (with many people deriding "fast fashion" and "fast food"). However, rather than trying to do things as quickly or as slowly as possible, my clients successfully achieve their desired Outcomes by giving themselves time. 

Their success hinges on the realisation that thinking properly takes time but that, when you take the time to think properly, the right things happen at the right speed.

Image: Morgan Housel on Unsplash

Recently I went in to the see CFO of an organisation I worked with last year. She admitted to me that, at the start of the previous project, she was sceptical of my coaching approach which involved a non-negotiable phase of explorartory conversations with people across the organisation before we got onto what she saw as the nitty gritty of working out solutions. 

However, now on the other side of a merger which has already delivered significant benefits, she told me, "I now realise that that time and those coversations weren't a luxury; they were instrumental to us being able to achieve what we did achieve so smoothly and so quickly." Seeing how taking time at the right time was key to those results is the reason she has turned from a sceptic to seeking to work with me again on another complex organisational project which we kicked off last week.

The other place I have recently seen the value of taking time was observing our pilot users using Digital ONION®. We had designed the Digital ONION® process so that it could be completed in 35 minutes but we noticed that pilot users often spent more time in it - often more like 45 minutes and sometimes longer. One pilot user I was observing on a demo told me at the end, "I only finished when I did because we had a hard stop; I would have liked to spend more time in it." 

Other users of Digital ONION® did a couple of layers, took a break and then came back in and got to and acted on their Next steps that way. So, while I had been thinking about how to make Digital ONION® a more efficient thinking partner which helped you get results (clearer thinking and more confident decisions) as quickly as possible, our users were more focussed on the benefit Digital ONION® gave them of time to think. And, as a result they got more clarity and better results. 

Our users were smarter than me in recognising that the time to think which Digital ONION® provides is not a luxury but a rare necessity in a world where overwhelm - physical, mental, digital - is so prevalent and causes so much analysis paralysis and poor decision making.    

It's as though the world, especially at work, is constantly urging each of us to echo the two most famous lines in Andrew Marvell's well-known poem, To His Coy Mistress:

"But at my back I always hear
Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near... "

In the poem, Marvell's protagonist is trying to pressure his "coy" girlfriend to sleep with him by reminding her of the inexorable march and relentless pace of time as it takes her to the grave. It's a deservedly famous poem in which the speaker appears to be urging a sort of seize the day/ YOLO spirit when, in fact, he is seeking to expoit an all too human fear for his own ends.

But the lesson from my clients and from Digital ONION®'s pilot users as well as from your best decisions is to face the fear; to hear and to heed time's winged chariot but not to be panicked by it. 

Image: Who's Danilo? on Unsplash

Take your time, make time to think  - on your own as well as  with others - and you will reap the benefits. This is not about being the tortoise rather than the hare or even slowing down to speed up - or any number of other cliches - it's about making the most of the time available by using it to think well and act more wisely.

If you're seeking to make a change or make progress on something meaningful at work, perhaps now is a good time to ask yourself, "Where can I take time and make time to think in the coming weeks?" Maybe ask, "Where could I really reap the benefits of doing this?" These are also useful questions to consider as a team. 

Perhaps you could take yourself out for a coffee or a walk over your lunch break (see this previous edition of "To Be Clear..." for the value of a change of scene when it comes to deeper clarity). Perhaps you could set aside time to think with someone else - a wise friend or colleague - or book a session with a coach. Perhaps you could take time to write out your thinking or even draw it out in a 2x2 . Perhaps you could use Digital ONION® to help you get clearer like the users I mention above. 

If you are a team, you could set aside time to go offsite even for a couple of hours or get in an experienced team coach or facilitator to help you think together about a key challenge or opportunity. 

I recently spent a couple of hours last week in Central London with a startup team helping them do just that. One person there had woken up at 6 am to travel down from Newcastle, another was dialling in from East Africa. 

The team is incredibly busy doing meaningful and mission driven work and yet one of their reflections was that this was the first time since this venture was founded 18 months ago that they had taken the time to think together as a team. Doing so has already made a significant positive difference, both to relationships in the team and to the way in which they are now planning for the future.

Take some time and, as always, let me know how it goes. 

Next up an underrated metric to help you move forward in surprising ways. 

Sweet clarity 

As mentioned in this previous edition of "To Be Clear...", as a recovering Investment Banker* who had to read many quarterly earnings reports, I still think in quarters. And so, as Q1 of this calendar year comes to a close, I am asking my clients to reflect on their quarter (indeed I am reflecting on my own) not just financially but more broadly. 

One metric that I am contemplating myself and encouraging others to consider is, progress in clarity.** As March comes to a close, you might ask yourself "What am I clearer on at the end of this quarter than I was at the start?". Once client running an amazing start-up initiative is much clearer on what his first cohort of clients want than he was in January. 

Meanwhile, a pilot user of Digital ONION® told us that using it had shown him how unclear he was on what he wanted in a key area of his life. It was not the progress he had been expecting but it was deeply valuable nonetheless.   

What about you? What's clearer for you as we come to the end of this first quarter of 2026, perhaps you can ask yourself "What am I clearer on that than I was at the start of January?" Focus on just one or two things. 

Perhaps you have gained deeper clarity about what your customers or clients or colleagues want or don't want. Perhaps you have deeper clarity on what you want or don't want. Maybe you've gained some deeper insight or clarity as to your own or someone else's motivations. 

Perhaps those lessons were hard won - you didn't get a job you went for or land an investment or proposal you were hoping for. Or perhaps unexpected opportunities or offers came your way which caused you to consider your options in surprising ways.  

Once you've identified one or two things on which you're clearer now than you were at the start of the year, you might ask "And what difference will that clarity make at work (and perhaps in life more generally) as I move into Q2?" 

If you find yourself thinking you're not clearer on anything, you might ask yourself, "What would I like to be clearer on at work by the end of Q2 (30th June) and what difference would that clarity make?" Think about who might be able to help you to get clearer and what information you need. Alternatively get in touch, and we can perhaps think briefly together about clarity you have gained which is not immediately obvious to you.

So, there you have it, two ideas and insights for greater clarity and effectiveness at work in the coming week, take the time - be intentional in setting aside time to think - and identify, value and use the clarity you have gained to move forward and make progress at work. 

When it comes to deeper clarity and time to think, there are still some spaces available for "To Be Clear..." readers to nab exclusive access to the early Alpha release of Digital ONION® with 21% off (using the code TBC21). 

You don't have to stay unclear or stuck. Bring a decision that is on your mind and taking up valuable headspace, take your time to work through the ONION® process, answering questions designed to help you to get clearer and leave with meaningful progress and a clear Next step. 

As always, do get in touch to tell me how you are thinking about and using these ideas, insights. It's always wonderfully helpful and encouraging to hear from you.

I'll be in touch before long to wish you a happy Easter; wishing you a clearer week ahead in the meantime.