WOW Word-Of-the-Week #493: Execution
January 15, 2014 by Susan Clarke
Execution – accomplishment of a task or project.
Do you like to complete tasks or projects? Do you have a tendency to procrastinate or put things off until later? Do you find yourself unable to relax or sleep if you don’t accomplish a task?
This is one of the words that best describes my husband. He loves to accomplish projects and tasks as soon as possible. While I think that is a good thing, there are times when you need to “not execute too quickly.”
We had a Trex deck that was defective. Several of the boards were flaking within 6 years and it had a 30 year warranty. When I called the company in 2011 and told them they sent 
someone out to assess the situation. At that time they were willing to replace 20% of it. I had a feeling that more boards were going to be defective over time. That feeling turned out to be correct and at the end of 2013 they were willing to replace 100% of it.
Had I been too quick to fix the problem we would have run into the same problem again. Not to mention that the deck would have looked terrible. Trex fades over time and the new boards would have made it look like a “patchwork repair job.” Not acceptable to me!
Kevin Stacey wrote an article titled, “Creating a Sense of Accomplishment.” He says, “One of the biggest producers of stress is going to bed feeling like you accomplished nothing all day but spin your wheels. Anxiety is sure to arise after an unproductive day where tasks are beginning to accumulate. When that happens, it is almost impossible to relax and shut off the world for the night.
On the other hand, when we end the day with a sense of accomplishment, we can exhale, breathe deeply, relax and sleep soundly. Our minds are free to focus on other pursuits, and we wake up feeling re-charged, in balance and ready to face another day.”
This week’s focus is on execution. What projects have been on your desk too long? Do you have co-workers that don’t complete their projects on time? Do you have a project that would be better served if it wasn’t accomplished too quickly?