10 rules for Being in the zone and for outstanding demos !

The use of the term "being in the zone" is most often in reference to a sporting event. An athlete is in the zone when he can feel and see nothing but the goal he seeks. The time that he remains in this zone allows him to become unflappable in his quest. Being in the zone can be a valuable business tool on your road to success and outstanding demo. Below you will find the 10 main requirements needed in order to achieve it for both you and your organisation :

1) Creative spatial arrangements: Chairs, pin walls, charts, but no tables; thus work primarily standing and moving.
2) Playground design: Charts for information inputs, flow graphs, project summary, craziness (here also craziness has a place), safe place (here all may say what is otherwise only thought), result wall, open topics

3) Parallel, organized working

4) Target group focus

5) Advancement and a prototype approach

6) Increase in efficiency through visualization (vision trumps all others senses)

7) Existence of differences among colleagues represents an opportunity, rather than an obstacle.

8) Set up a rule at work : make half the day alone time

9) During this alone time, give up outlook messaging, call phone and meetings (that are toxic)

10) Avoid any email thread that's going to require an immediate response

You are in the zone when you are fully concentrated on your work and fully tuned out of your environment. we lose track of time and produce great stuff through absolute concentration.... and the work we are doing is a reward in itself. However, it is very easy to get knocked out of the zone : Noise phone call, going out for lunch, having a look to the outlook mail,having a coffee break, meeting, interruption by coworkers... All knocks you out of the zone. When you have a long stretch and when you aren't bothered you can get in the zone, the zone is when you are most productive. It's when you don't have to hesitate between various tasks, it's when you are not interrupted to answer a question or look up something or send email. Getting in the zone takes time.And that's why interruption is your enemy when you prepare your demo . The alone time zone is where the real outstanding demo can be built and may happens.

And last, remember the advice from the "Getting Real" by 37 signals from which this post is inspired by :

"Meetings are toxic", Don't have them !