Paint Done

Bottom line is burn out is high and the attention span of many these days is buckshot. Paint Done (from Brené Brown and #daretolead) is a simple practice for leaders and teams that can be a life raft amidst cross-currents of priorities, initiatives, complexity and burn out. Use it when assigning tasks, deliverables or project outcomes. A Role-Play...

Kris: Hey, can you take care of the client briefing for next week?
Carlos: Sure.
Fast forward to Carlos sharing the client briefing with Kris which doesn't have the data or key points or formatting Kris wanted leading to frustration, disappointment, resentment, eroded trust and a last-minute work product.

Role-Play with Paint Done
Kris: Hey, can you take care of next week's client briefing?
Carlos: Sure, could you Paint Done?
Kris: Yes! It needs to be structured around these 3 key points with data from the accounting team, in the design team's new format and no more than 5 slides as we'll only have 20 minutes with the directors.
Carlos: Great! I have what I need and will start working.

From Dare to Lead™, Paint Done is: 
*Not just assigning a task, but explaining the reason— clarifying how the end product will be used.
*Providing color and context—the purpose, not just the mechanics.
*Sharing the reason for a task helps uncover stealth expectations and stealth intentions, cultivates commitment and contribution, and facilitates growth and learning.

Questions to prime the 'Paint Done' pump...
 - What does 'done' look like?
 - If this (task, deliverable, outcome) is done wildly successfully, what does that look like?
 - What doesn't it look like?
- Do we know and have what we need to Paint Done?

Paint Done, originally a Scrum tool, scales to any team setting for problem solving, project management or delivering services or products. I discussed it recently with the board of Global Village Project #globalvillageproject - a school for refugee girls with a profound mission and impact. Every resource and minute they can harness and use effectively quite literally affects the lives of the girls and families they serve.

Warm wishes as we all navigate the cross currents!