As the corporate calendar turns to Q3, it’s time to take stock of major accomplishments thus far in 2020. A candid self evaluation in the midst of a global pandemic is just what the doctor ordered.
Some helpful thought starters for this exercise arrived in my inbox at work — sharing my responses below.
What are some of your achievements? Projects or personal development you worked on for the first half of the year?
I beat Covid. This was an unexpected stretch assignment, but I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish on short notice.
I designed the “Answer a Question, Get a Prize” program with my children in the spring in an attempt to stoke their curiosity and keep them busy. While there was alignment at the executive level and, I believe, strong prompts, motivating the team proved a real challenge and engagement with the program was low. Key learning: “prize” is not enough of an incentive. User interviews revealed that a $1000+ iPad Pro is the mandatory minimum amount of prize needed to spark a child’s curiosity, so the program unfortunately ended.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F402fddf9-1d56-4733-8d68-228bc2466ab3_4032x3024.jpeg)
In terms of personal development, I have grown my hair to lengths not seen since the year 2002.
Where have your skills made a positive impact?
Delegation. As my wife gradually lost work as a result of the pandemic, I was able to seamlessly transfer child care responsibilities to her so I could focus on the complete takeover of my calendar by 1:1s, check-ins, and touchbases. And now they go to Mommy first.
Leadership. I was able to lead by processing and compartmentalizing large quantities of stressful information about the world, my team, and my family, with little to no outward emotional display. I believe this robotic display of steadiness was worth the extra 15 pounds and the little bit of lost sleep — I was there for the team.
What progress to date have you made on your work goals? Would you propose any changes as we look to the second half of 2020?
I have succeeded in being present for work. As we look to the second half of 2020, the change I’d propose is: we lower our expectations much, much further.
How are you tracking against your learning and development goals? Would you propose any changes as we look to the second half of 2020?
This first half of 2020 made it abundantly clear to me that you can’t spell “learning and development goals” without “lol.”
How satisfied are you with how things are going?
It could be worse!
—Matt