Six Reasons for Value Tracking
Last week, I offered the suggestion to start value tracking instead of time tracking. The idea received a lot of great feedback and positive comments.
My idea is to use a two-by-two grid in which you plot value for yourself and value for others, on a scale from -3 to +3. For example:
(Read the full explanation of value tracking here.)
The value tracking concept is far from complete and, not surprisingly, some people had questions, doubts, and concerns. I’m sure that their feedback will help me to improve the idea over time. In a series of articles, I will share my thoughts and experiences around value tracking. Let’s start with the most obvious question…
Why would someone do this?
What is the point of estimating value on a scale of -3 to +3?
Good question! Thanks for asking. :-)
1. Focus On Objectives
The switch from tracking time to tracking value (and from writing tasks to documenting achievements) means that value tracking has a focus on outcomes and impact. Every time you assess the value of an activity, you remind yourself to connect your work with your objectives. The habit of value tracking is, therefore, an opportunity for continuous self-reflection. Over the past few weeks, I caught myself asking questions such as, “Was it really worth doing this activity?”, “Is it OK to waste my time so I can help someone else?” and “If this was valuable, why am I not doing this more often?”
The habit of value tracking is, therefore, an opportunity for continuous self-reflection.
2. Thrive As Systems
In my books, I have often explained that people, teams, and organizations are complex adaptive systems operating in changing environments. To survive and thrive, these systems must generate value for their environments while also generating value for themselves. Splitting the evaluation of value into two dimensions (value for me versus value for others) helps to remind us that we need to work on both. It’s best to be neither slaves nor slavers, and thus the work we do should be valuable for ourselves and for others.
3. Get Faster Feedback
My intention with this tool is to default to openness and transparency. In other words, I prefer to have as few secrets as possible because my peers could offer me feedback and insights. By sharing my activities (and my perceived value) using a value tracking tool, and observing my team members’ activities and value as well, we create a feedback cycle that is much shorter than the cadence of a traditional sprint retrospective. It is then up to us to act on peer-to-peer insights immediately or save any discussions for the next retro.
We create a feedback cycle that is much shorter than the cadence of a traditional sprint retrospective.
4. Get Better Suggestions
There is another reason for defaulting to transparency. When we make it a habit to keep a trail of our achievements and value in a digital system, we create an opportunity for an AI to offer suggestions and help us improve our work-lives. Many coaches, consultants, teams, and managers love getting targeted ideas for process improvements and organizational changes. But the quality of the ideas offered by the AI will depend strongly on the quality of our input. To be of any use, the machine needs to know what we’re doing, and why. (The Mind Settlers platform is shaping up nicely to make this a reality.)
5. Adopt a Closing Ritual
I was recently reminded of the benefit of rituals. In his excellent book Deep Work, Cal Newport writes that it’s good for our brains to ritualize the end of focused work. If you’d like to experience periods of flow, with deeper immersion, and higher effectiveness, you should not only create a comfortable space and turn off all notifications. You should also consider a “wrap-it-up” habit that helps you to appreciate that your work is done so you can turn your mind elsewhere. I can hardly think of a better ritual than a 30-second summary of what you just did and how valuable it was for you and others.
It’s good for our brains to ritualize the end of focused work.
6. Collect Your Data
I am one of those people who loves looking at numbers. My exercise/running statistics are in Endomondo; my movie reviews are all in IMDb; the books I’ve read are in GoodReads, and I want to see my work-related achievements in Mind Settlers. The data will help me understand which day of the week I do my best work, for which teams I believe I’m most valuable, how my mood correlates with the value I create, and whether there are trends in my behaviors that I should be aware of. I don’t have these numbers yet, but I’m sure I will have them soon!
I have been tracking value for three weeks now. These were the six reasons why.
What would make you start tracking your value? And how can we further improve the idea?
Experiment with value tracking on Mind Settlers! (soon)
