The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months

"The 12 Week Year" is based on a framework borrowed from the sports industry. Using this process, you accomplish in 12 weeks what you'd normally accomplish in 12 months. Not by working harder, but by focusing your efforts on what matters most, getting rid of low value tasks, and keeping a real sense of urgency to get everything done.

It sounds like a daunting prospect. But the authors' framework has been tested, refined, and proven over several years with thousands of professional and corporate clients. And, they give plenty of tips and strategies that help you organize your time and narrow your focus, so you accomplish this ambitious goal.

To see this idea in action, look at the insurance and financial industries. Often, the fourth quarter represents 30 to 40 percent of annual sales. The reason is that everyone in these industries has to get their numbers up by year-end. There's a real sense of urgency at this point to meet performance goals, and non-essential tasks are put aside, so everyone can focus on meeting this deadline.

Imagine what would happen if these industries treated all their quarters like they do the last one. This book shows you how. And, you get plenty of inspiring, real-life stories that show what an impact this can have on your success, happiness, and general sense of well being.

"The 12 Week Year" is written for anyone who wants to accomplish their goals in life. It doesn't matter if your dream is to have more time at home with your family, or to run a global organization. Both are equally important, and both are doable using this system.
The book can be used with groups, too, and even organizations. The authors include several case studies from leaders who've applied these principles to their teams. There are targeted instructions for leaders in each chapter that teach you how to apply each step to a larger group.

The results are inspiring, and we think that, with the right leadership, this framework could work well in a large organization or in a team setting. It probably won't be easy to get everyone on board at first. But if you do, this new mindset could transform the way your company or team works, and what you accomplish.

Brian Moran is the founder and CEO of The Execution Company, an organization committed to improving performance and quality of life for leaders and entrepreneurs. He's a sought-after speaker and coach.

Michael Lennington is the Vice-President of The Execution Company. He's a consultant, coach, and leadership trainer.
So, keep listening to find out why 12-month planning might be limiting your own performance, the five criteria you need to set effective goals, and why peer support and accountability is so crucial to successfully meeting your goals.

Although the book has 21 chapters, it still comes in at less than 200 pages. It's short, but there's a lot to digest in here. You'll probably want to take notes or read with a highlighter as you go along.

"The 12 Week Year" is divided into two parts. Part one gives a broad overview of the authors' system. This is inspiring, and introduces the key concepts in the book.

Part two is where you learn exactly how the 12-week system works, and how to put it in action in your life.

At this point you might be wondering what's so bad about setting 12-month goals. We all do it, and it does make sense. Companies and individuals alike set annual goals, and then they break those down into quarterly, monthly, and even weekly goals. The authors call this "annualized thinking."

The problem with annualized thinking is that when you set goals in January, December feels like a long way off. It feels like you have plenty of time to get everything done this year. So when you fall behind one month, and then the next month, there's no sense of urgency to catch up.

According to the authors, annualized thinking usually results in less than optimal performance. We don't accomplish nearly what we could, simply because we don't feel that burning need to move forward relentlessly. We procrastinate. And, we let small or unimportant tasks eat up time that we could be using to accomplish the goals that really matter.

The opposite of this is called "periodization," and this is what the "12 Week Year" is based on. With this approach, each 12-week cycle stands alone. It should be seen as your year, not a quarter of a year. You have to change your thinking to realize that every moment, and every day, is really important.

This can be an intimidating prospect for some people. So how do you do it?

You start with a personal vision. This means you need to be able to see, with crystal clear clarity, what you want your life to be like.
A personal vision is important because you need to have an emotional connection with why you want do this. Otherwise, it will be really hard for you to change your approach.

So, envision something big, something that really gets you excited. It should be big enough that it makes you a bit uncomfortable. But it should also be doable.

Now, this vision might take years to achieve, and several shifts in your thinking need to take place in order for it to happen. The authors say you'll likely go through several predictable stages as you plan ahead.

You may start out with what the authors call Impossible thinking. This is when you're thinking, "How can I possibly do this?"
Next is Possible thinking, where you think, "What if I do this?" This is a subtle shift that starts to change your energy and attitude for the better. As you might imagine, when you use Possible thinking you start to own your vision and envision what your life would like if you accomplished it.

The next shift is to Probable thinking, when you think, "How could I do this?" This shift in thinking helps you move from thinking to doing.

You're now going to break your vision down into three time horizons. The first is long-term aspirations. This is what you want your life to look like 10 or 15 years from now. Next are your mid-term goals, which is two or three years from now. And the last time horizon is 12 weeks.

You have to break your vision into these three categories because, let's face it, you can't transform your life or your organization in just 12 weeks. If you want to write a novel, build your business from scratch, or save up for your child's college tuition, you need more than three months to do it. But cascading down like this helps you develop an effective and meaningful 12-week plan, which is your next step.

If you're in a leadership role, the authors have some good advice on how to get this process started with your team. They also include some useful questions you can ask, to help team members develop their own visions of the future.

So, now you need to create a 12-week plan. You're going to focus only on the minimum number of actions that are important to your goal. And the authors have five criteria for setting effective 12-week goals.

First, make your goals specific and measurable. Second, state your goals positively. Third, ensure your goals are a realistic stretch. Fourth, assign accountability. And last, be time-bound.

The authors go into a lot of detail about each of these criteria. There's also a sample 12-week plan you can use as a guide. We thought this was a really helpful inclusion because you can see what these 12-week goals look like in a real-world setting.

Your next step is to create a weekly plan. This plan is what defines the daily and weekly actions that will lead you to achieving your vision.

We need to make an important distinction here. Your weekly plan doesn't include everything you need to do your job. It shouldn't be full of activities either. You're basically planning out the two or three critical tasks that lead directly to your goals.

Even if you think you know what you need to do, the authors tell you to put it down on paper. In their experience, you're 60 to 80 percent more likely to execute a written weekly plan than a plan that's just in your head.

The authors say that you have to hold yourself accountable for your goals and progress if you want to succeed. This is why peer support is so important in this process.

The authors quote a 2005 article in "Fast Company" titled, "Change or Die." In it, the author presented research conducted with patients who had severe medical conditions that required lifestyle changes in order to live. After only 12 months, 90 percent of patients had gone back to their old lifestyle, virtually guaranteeing their death.

Another group had a much higher success rate. These patients were involved in peer support sessions, and they had a success rate of nearly 80 percent. This group met regularly to discuss how well they were doing, and where they were struggling. They encouraged each other, and they pretty much stayed on track.

The authors have had similar experiences with thousands of their clients.

The lesson is this: make this transition to a 12-week year with someone else. It could be a few of your colleagues, your friends, or even your spouse. When you do, commit to meeting at least once a week, ideally on Monday, for a Weekly Accountability Meeting. The meeting should last 15 to 30 minutes. But make sure you stick to it every week. Holding yourself accountable to others is a crucial part of sticking to this process, and meeting your goals.

One chapter we think many people will find useful is chapter seventeen. Here, the authors look at one of the biggest reasons why so many people don't accomplish what they could. And you can probably guess this excuse yourself.

In short, we don't have time.

There's an inspiring story that starts off this chapter. It's about Annette, whose 12-week goals were to stay on track to receive the yearly performance award her organization gives out. And, she wanted to start home schooling her child.

These two goals seem like they'd be impossible together. Annette was working in a demanding career, and trying to balance that with intensely personal and rewarding time at home with her child. She really needed to be on top of her time management in order to achieve these two goals.

But she did it, using the authors' time-blocking method. Here, you organize your time using blocks of time for specific groups of tasks. These blocks are called performance blocks, strategic blocks, and buffer blocks.

The system isn't hard to grasp, but it does take a bit of work to implement. We think this is an intelligent way to organize your day, especially if you have a fair amount of control over your tasks. People who are responsible for large teams, or have to cope with unexpected emergencies on a regular basis, will probably find this system especially challenging.

So, what's our last word on "The 12 Week Year"?

We have to admit, we were skeptical about this book at first. The concept sounded a little too good to be true. We also wondered if the authors had created a system that would only be useful for a handful of people in a specific set of circumstances.

We're happy to admit we were wrong. The process the authors outline is clear, actionable, and most importantly, it's possible. We really feel this approach can work for both individuals and organizations.

The authors do a great job making sure each stage is easy to follow. They identify possible pitfalls every step of the way, and offer plenty of tips and advice to help you overcome them. By the time you're done with the book, you'll really feel like this approach to accomplishing your goals is possible. And you've got the roadmap in your hands to do it.

It's a little more challenging to implement the system at a team level. This is a pretty radical concept that requires a dramatic shift in thinking. And that's not easy for many people. What leaders have to do is create a vision for the team that forges an emotional connection with every person. People will not go through the pain of change unless they feel an emotional connection to why they're doing it.

With this in mind, the authors include advice specifically geared towards team leaders in every chapter. So, you're not left without a guide.

All in all, this is an inspiring and accessible book that, we feel, can help anyone accomplish their goals and dreams in a new way.
We'll leave you with a quote from the authors that we really liked, from chapter five. "The greatest predictor of your future are your daily actions."

"The 12 Week Year," by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington, is published by Wiley.

That's the end of this episode of Book Insights. Thanks for listening.