« Lessons from a board game | Main | Stick to your knitting »

January 21, 2009

President Obama says: Do more with less

It’s my theme of the month (and, possibly, depending on how the economy goes, of the year): How to improve employee communication despite having less time and less money. I’ve written articles about the topic, am conducting a web workshop this afternoon about it, and am constantly talking to clients about it.

So it come as no surprise to you that, while listening to President Barack Obama’s inauguration speech yesterday, I kept hearing him say “do more with less.”

For instance, he said:

“Our time of standing pat . . . that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or small, but whether it works . . . Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.”

“Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends—hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism—these things are old. These things are true.”

“What is required of us now is new era of responsibility—a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties . . . duties that we seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.”

My takeaways: Focus on what matters. Eliminate the rest. And have the confidence that by doing so, we can make a difference—and get through these tough times.

Posted by Alison Davis at January 21, 2009 11:24 AM