Workplace Multiplier by Tola Akinsulire

Tuesday Edition: January 14, 2025

Welcome to the Workplace Multiplier newsletter. Published every Tuesday & Friday, we discover something crucial to help us on the way to winning at work and in life.

During January, I'll be writing on key areas you should focus on to make 2025 a great year for your career and life

The Two-Pointer Strategy: Why Simple Execution Beats Complex Plans in 2025

Friday, December 13th 2024 into Monday, December 16th 2024 had an interesting series of matches at the US National Basketball Association (NBA) games.

OK, let me put it differently, it created interesting records.

On Monday, we had the Dallas Mavericks edging out the Golden State Warriors by 143 points to 133 points. The game witnessed 48 three-pointers - the most in any game in NBA history.

Before that record-making game, we had another record-making game on Friday. The Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls missed a combined 75 three-pointers—the most in a single game. They shot 97 three-pointers and scored only 22.

Why is this important?

There is an obsession with making the big win and delivering the crowd-pleaser. That is what a three-pointer represents.

In the second game, someone in the team should have said “If we can’t make three-pointers, let’s focus on making two-pointers.”

“Let’s try to win our game by focusing on the basics - getting the ball through the hoops, in the simplest way possible.”

You might be wise to pick a thing or two from that.

In 2025, remind yourself that your objective is to deliver your goals and not to obsess over the elegance of a strategic approach.

One of the things living through COVID and the subsequent economy-affecting events should have taught us is the fact that the world now changes at the speed of imagination.

Most likely a few parts of your strategy for delivering your goals became obsolete before you stepped out the door.

You need to actively reassess your positions now and again.

In the immortal words of Helmuth von Moltke (The Elder), “No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.” Or if you prefer a more hip way of saying that thought, embrace the Iron Mike Tyson approach, “Everyone has a plan…until they get punched in the face.”

Last year, I shared a simple framework with a team of people about how they could keep pushing themselves to focus on getting the result. It’s a combination of two things:

1 - Do it Right:

The goal is excellence in execution. Simple ideas that support this include:

Be clear on the results you should be delivering.

Pay attention to detail.

Eliminate redundant process steps.

Keep improving your skills. Better skills deliver better results.

2 - Do it Fast:

The goal is speed in execution. Simple ideas that support this include:

Focus on getting results to the people you serve as fast as changing market conditions require.

Be adaptable to changing events that change execution steps.

Faster response to your audience’s trigger points.

This simple framework will keep you from obsessing on three-pointers when two-pointers would have cone the trick of winning you the game in 2025.

Let’s make 2025 the best year you have lived up to now.

Keep winning at work at work and in life.

Tola Akinsulire

I am a Workplace Multiplier

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