Administrative

Open the meeting with five minutes of silent reading of a written memo instead of slides.

Refuse to attend or hold any meeting whose agenda did not arrive 24 hours prior, no exceptions.

Convert your daily meeting to 15 minutes standing, three questions per person, then dismiss.

Reserve a full weekday for deep work and protect it like an unmissable doctor's appointment.

End every meeting with: what worked (+) and what we change next time (Δ).

Decline any meeting without a written agenda — politely cancel and request one.

Daily short standing meeting: what did I do yesterday? Today? Any blockers?

Designate one weekday with zero meetings — even from the CEO.

For every group decision: 3 minutes of silent individual writing before any discussion.

Last 3 minutes: what worked? What do we improve next meeting?

Delegate each task at one of five explicit levels instead of just "do it" or "don't".

For each recurring decision specify Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed — leave no column empty.

Explicitly write a list of 3-5 tasks you never delegate, and delegate everything else without hesitation.

For each delegation candidate, rate skill and interest — delegate where both are high.

Before any delegation, answer 7 questions in writing — send them with the handover.

After any delegated task completes, deliver feedback in Situation-Behavior-Impact format.

Log every task you do for a full week, then tag: delegable / non-delegable.

When an employee returns with a delegated problem, don't take it — return it with two questions.

Specify the decision-types (not tasks) you will delegate via an explicit authority ring.

Every 90 days, raise each delegated task one rung on the delegation ladder.

On day one, hand the new hire a list of 15 decisions they make alone without consulting you.

For one month, measure: how many hours go to "following-up" delegated tasks? Target < 20%.

Every time you catch yourself doing a task, ask: who else? And why didn't they?

Describe the outcome in 3 sentences, let the employee pick the path.

If you vanished for two weeks with no contact, what stops? That's your urgent delegation list.

For each task and person: R responsible, A accountable, C consulted, I informed.

A 7-sentence formula that conveys a task clearly enough that the employee won't come back with "what did you mean?"

For each task, set the autonomy level (1: tell me before → 5: decide alone).

Identify 5-7 tasks that must stay with you, so you delegate everything else with peace.

Before delegating a sensitive task, map who must know and who must agree.

Sort your week's tasks into four quadrants: urgent-important, important-not-urgent, urgent-not-important, neither.

Score each initiative Impact x Confidence x Ease (1-10 each), execute by score order.

Before starting each morning, write three tasks that, alone, would make the day a success.

Sort 20 tasks from your list into only two quadrants: important-not-urgent and important-urgent.

Score each idea on Impact, Confidence, Ease — pick the highest sum.

Define 3 tasks before opening any app — this is what success looks like today.

Each active project: continue or kill? No "waiting" middle ground.

No more than 3 active goals at a time — with a visible "waiting" queue for the rest.

Empty next week's calendar entirely, then add back only what truly deserves a slot.

Before any project starts, write a one-page charter answering six core questions.

Before starting, imagine the project failed in six months and write down why.

Manually identify the longest sequential task chain determining total project duration — delaying any one delays the whole delivery.

For every new addition request mid-project, apply one rule: it enters in exchange for something leaving, or waits for the next release.

When one person is needed for three tasks the same week, reschedule instead of stacking them beyond their capacity.

Within a week of any project delivery, gather to document what worked and what failed — before memory evaporates.

Define exactly when you'll kill the project before it even starts — don't wait until failure is discovered too late.

For tasks under two weeks, a three-line charter instead of the full page — same protection, less friction.

Don't treat symptoms. Ask why five times to reach the root cause.

Map every step a task passes through end-to-end, marking value-add versus non-value-add.

Sort every file you own into just four: Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive.

For every recurring fact, designate one official place it lives, and turn every other copy into a link to it.

Start each quarter at zero and force every line item to re-justify its existence.

Don't ask "do we need another hire?" — ask "if we started today with nobody, who'd we hire first?".

Improve any process via a weekly four-stage loop: Plan, Do, Check, Act.

Don't analyze a problem from your desk. Go where it happens and observe 30 minutes before suggesting a fix.

Sort, Set-in-order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain — five steps turning clutter into visual order.

Dedicate five full days for a focused team to solve one problem at the root — not an hour-a-week meeting for months.

Give every employee the right to halt the process instantly upon spotting a defect, without waiting for manager approval.

Scan your process for eight specific waste types, not vague general waste.

Collect improvement suggestions from staff, but the critical rule: respond within 48 hours to every one — no neglected box.

You cannot improve what isn't first documented as a standard — document today's best-known method before searching for a better one.

List your top 10 risks with probability, impact, and owner; review the first Monday each month.

For every critical process ask: if this person or system vanished tomorrow, what happens?

Summarize the health of your operation on one page with just five metrics, refreshed weekly.

Don't report what went as expected. Report only what breached the allowed threshold — silence is reassurance.

Draw a table: rows = team members, columns = skills, cells = competence 1-4.

Identify which of four stages your team sits in today, and adapt your leadership style accordingly instead of using one fixed approach.

Rotate every team member to shadow a peer in a different role for a full week each quarter, not a token single day.

Write with your team the basic rules of engagement (how we decide, how we disagree, when we're reachable) before the first real conflict.

Before any peer conflict escalates to the manager, apply these defined steps between yourselves first.

Ask every team member once a quarter: where do you want to be in two years? Then explicitly tie their current work to that path.

Five anonymous questions each quarter surface problems nobody will voice aloud in a meeting.

Every two weeks, each member gives one peer specific feedback in a fixed format — no waiting for the annual review.

Every new member gets a peer "buddy" (not their manager) for the first 30 days to ask any "silly" question.

Record a one-hour screen video of someone doing the task instead of writing 15 pages nobody reads.

Every SOP has a mandatory expiry date — if unreviewed, it's auto-flagged "unreliable".

Audit all vendor subscriptions and merge similar ones into single contracts for 15-30% discount.

Every budget line starts at zero — must justify itself, not inherit from last year.

Instead of rigid annual budget: rolling 4-quarter forecast, refreshed quarterly.

Monthly: planned vs actual — focus on variances >5%, dig into causes.

Each service/product: real cost? — not "fake organizational average".

Count vendors per category — consolidating 2 similar drops price 15-25%.

Each expense: operational (OpEx) or capital (CapEx)? — different tax/accounting treatment.

Delete every recurring meeting from the calendar, and re-add only what its owner justifies in writing.

Pick a task, compute: frequency x duration x doer's wage. If result > 5,000 USD annually, automate it.

Don't automate before knowing what's worth it — log a week, analyze, then act.

Every recurring copy-paste = automation chance — find, count, automate.

Per recurring meeting: "does it produce decision/action?" — if no, kill it.

Every doc type written 3+× yearly has template — write once, use forever.

Per daily-used tool: learn 5 shortcuts — minutes/day saved = hours/year.

Before requesting a developer to automate a process, trial it with a no-code tool for two weeks first — if it works, you saved months.

Before any change goes live, ensure each employee passes five gates: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement.

Don't launch a major organizational transformation without first building a guiding coalition and a sense of urgency — the two most-skipped steps.

Open each day with 10 minutes standing: each person's top priority today and any blockers.

Beyond the daily morning huddle, dedicate 20 weekly minutes to a deeper review: what wore us out this week?

Turn a vague goal into a specific, measurable, time-bound formulation.

Define one inspiring Objective and 3 numeric Key Results that prove it.

Start from delivery day and reverse-engineer what must be ready each week.

Four steps: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan — turn intention into behavior.

Treat every 12 weeks as a full year with goals, measures, and review rhythm.

A single theme-word guides your year's decisions instead of forgotten resolutions.

Three phases: learn (30), diagnose (60), first win (90).

Compress any project into one page: why, what, who, when, success looks like...

Imagine the project failed entirely a year from now; list 7 plausible reasons before starting.

After each phase: what happened? What did we expect? Why the gap? How do we learn?

A 7-milestone Gantt on one page — visible, instantly grokkable.

A living table of every project risk: probability, impact, owner, action.

For each task estimate: optimistic, most-likely, pessimistic — then compute expected.

Identify when the project becomes uncancelable — decide before, not after.

Classify every commitment: fixed (must), negotiable (should), optional (could).

Before launch, write a "press release" as if it succeeded — making the win tangible.

Compare options across 5 weighted axes; compute the highest sum.

Two-way-door decisions move fast with no meetings; one-way-door demands scrutiny.

How will I feel about this decision in 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years?

Before confirming a decision, spend 10 minutes writing the counter-case forcefully.

Log every important decision with your prediction; review monthly for calibration accuracy.

Before big decisions, consult 5 from varied lenses (expertise, age, culture, bias).

Any decision over 5000 SAR or 5 hours of impact — wait 24 hours before executing.

For each problem, ask "why?" five times in a row to reach the root cause.

Instead of "how do I succeed?", ask "how would I fail confidently?" — then avoid each item.

Draw a "fish skeleton" of the problem: head = issue, bones = cause categories.

In any system, identify the slowest process — it caps the whole system.

In dynamic problems, cycle OODA faster than the adversary.

Lead with conclusion first, then supporting arguments, then details — never the reverse.

Every work email starts with one sentence: "what I need from you" or "the bottom line".

One document answering every "how do we work here?" question for new hires.

Each significant decision: a text file with context, options, choice, consequences.

Rate each risk on a 5×5 grid — color dictates response urgency.

Each core operation: "what if it stops for a day?" with a backup plan.

Each big decision: 3 numeric scenarios, not "hope for the best".

Before big commitment: "what if X drops 50%?" Test plan robustness.

Every successful change passes 8 steps in order — skipping any = likely failure.

Each affected employee: score 5 dimensions — awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, reinforcement.

Three core phases of any change: unfreeze status quo, move it, refreeze the new state.

Each SOP: one-line title, 7-step checklist, then reference details.

Map the process as-is (not as-wished): every step, decision, delay.

After understanding current state: draw the "after" version and steps to get there.

Small team, one process, 5 full days for radical improvement — not "open project".

Sort, set in order, shine, standardize, sustain — visual organization that cuts search time.

Go to the workplace, observe yourself, ask "why" 3 times, don't intervene.

Each step on a "swim lane" for a specific role — exposes broken handoffs.

Instead of processing 50 in one batch, process 1 then pass — faster, fewer errors.

Customer beat: if demand is 8 units in 8 hours, takt = 1 hour per unit.

Every process chain is limited by slowest step — speeding others is waste.

Per task: who Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed — no duplication for first two.

Per decision type: who proposes, decides, consulted, informed.

Per issue type: when resolved at current level, when escalates up.

Each policy: title, scope, 5 rules, exceptions, review date — one page only.

Each policy override: log why, who approved, when reviewed.

30 days before audit: self-review controls — find gaps before auditor does.

Each team member: annual signature on disclosure of relationships affecting decisions.

All data: public/internal/confidential/restricted — each class with different protection rules.

Leading predicts, lagging describes past — know each KPI's place.

Don't judge by financial numbers alone — add customer, internal, learning in 4 perspectives.

One number summarizing your product's value to customer — every decision serves it.

KPIs measure business-as-usual, OKRs drive change — don't mix.

Vanity metric always grows and unaffected by decisions — harmful because feels like success.

Weekly: 30-min silent reading of 6-pager data, then sharp discussion.

Each team member: one number owning their core responsibility this quarter.

Every quarter: review dashboard — drop unused, add needed, refresh targets.

Don't pick vendor "by gut" — score on 6 dimensions with weights, pick by points.

Good RFP defines what you need precisely + selection criteria — not "send anything".

Before signing: 12 red flags that may cost thousands later.

90 days into contract: review with vendor — don't wait for renewal to find issues.

Before renewing expensive vendor: compute real switch cost — may be less than you think.

Before signing: exit options? notice? penalties? data handoff?

One page answering "where do I find X?" for 80% of team questions.

Each major decision: context, options, decision, consequences — one page, sequential.

List "things only X knows" — each is risk if they leave.

Each major incident/issue: written post-mortem — saved in searchable library.

Track last 100 support tickets — top 20 repeats = your FAQ page.

New hire week 1: one page with everything they need — not "ask so-and-so".

Before an employee leaves, dedicate a session separate from the formal exit interview to extract only their operational knowledge.

One line per decision you make: what, why, and which alternative you rejected — takes only 30 seconds.

Don't wait for the team to voluntarily fill the wiki — seed 20 initial pages yourself from real past questions.

Ask the expert: "what do you notice that a beginner wouldn't?" — this extracts what no manual ever captures.

After any task (not just major projects), one line: what lesson won't I forget? — accumulates into an actual wisdom library.

In crisis: one person leads, all report to them, fast decisions — not "committee".

During crisis: hourly stand-up — status, blockers, next. No long meetings.

After major incident: full review — timeline, causes, improvements, no blame.

Error defined as system problem not person — unlocks honest info without fear.

First hour of crisis: who to inform, what to say, how.

Before all facts are known, issue a ready holding statement within minutes saying "we know, we're acting" — not silence that invites speculation.

Each stakeholder: place in quadrant (high/low power × high/low interest) — each quadrant has strategy.

Who influences whom? — draw network to know "who talks to whom to shift decision".

Per key stakeholder: what to send, when, via which channel, what to expect.

Project first meeting: explicit expectations — scope, date, quality, comms, alarms.

When stakeholder A wants X, B wants opposite: don't pick — surface underlying interests.

Your boss has little time, many concerns — use 4 principles to be a smart stakeholder.

Place every stakeholder in one of four boxes: high-power/high-interest gets close management, high-power/low-interest gets kept satisfied.

For every stakeholder, explicitly define: how often, which channel, what level of detail — no randomly-timed communication.

Before labeling someone "difficult", diagnose the specific type: are they anxious, ignored, or genuinely conflicted in interest?

When you realize you won't meet a past promise, announce it early in a specific format — don't wait until the deadline for the stakeholder to discover it themselves.

Before presenting your proposal in the formal meeting, win 2-3 influencers individually — don't surprise them with a public vote.

Don't wait for a stakeholder's complaint to learn their opinion — design a regular structured channel that asks before they complain.

Assume the company has zero software tools today, and rebuild the tool list from scratch based only on actual need.

For every existing operational process, ask: if we designed it today from scratch, would it look like this?

Draw the org chart you'd want to hit your upcoming goals, then compare it to what actually exists today.

Delete every KPI you track, and re-add only what someone can prove actually changes a real decision.

Freeze every internal comm channel (Slack, email, meetings) for a week, and reinstate only what's actually demanded back.