On Tackling Productivity Gaps and Fixing Broken Processes (Supermanagers Podcast Episode)

What are the barriers keeping you and your team from their best work?

I recently made an appearance on the Supermanagers podcast (from the team at Fellow), in an episode titled “On Tackling Productivity Gaps and Fixing Broken Processes.”

In my books Start Finishing and Team Habits, I've explored the unique challenges that hold people back from making progress on their most important goals. Things like competing priorities, negative self-talk, poor planning — these are the invisible barriers that so often prevent us from achieving what matters most.

And it's not just an individual issue. These same dynamics play out in our teams as well. The "broken printer" problems, the endless email chains, the unproductive meetings — these are the team habits that sap our energy and keep us from doing our best work together.

The good news is there are practical steps we can take to overcome these obstacles. It's not rocket science, but it does require a willingness to be honest with ourselves and our teammates. To have the tough conversations, challenge the status quo, and consciously design the ways we want to work.

We all have the ability to improve the systems and habits that shape our collective experience. I'm excited to dive into these ideas with our audience and Supermanagers listeners. Hopefully, you'll come away with some fresh perspectives and insights to apply in your own work.

Topics We Explored

• The difference between Start Finishing and Team Habits, and between individual and team-level challenges

• The importance of retrospectives (even for successful projects) and learning from both positive and negative outcomes

• Why it shouldn't always fall on the manager — and non-managers should be empowered to improve team dynamics

• How the gap between our big dreams and daily reality and the challenges in between can be thought of as an “air sandwich”

• The "No Agenda, No Meeting" Rule and how to ensure meetings are productive and focused

• Why teams are often stronger than leaders give them credit for

• How managers can create space for teams to solve problems on their own

Episode Timestamps

03:11 — From Military to Executive Coach

07:12 — Ever heard of an “air sandwich”?

11:56 — The “broken printer problem”

17:42 — Prioritizing “Quadrant 2 time” for teams

23:33 — The importance of regular retrospectives

29:24 — How to identify meeting inefficiencies

34:41 — Team habits that empower every member

38:25 — Your team is stronger than you give them credit for