Thank you, David Letterman. Your "Top Ten" list started it. Every leadership, motivational or other guru is serving up his or her list of something or other. It could be "the 8 steps to perfect contentment" or the "10 key competencies that a CEO must have." They can be framed negatively like "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" or positively like "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People."
The bottom line is that lists make it easy to communicate with people in digestible bites. And many of us do well with information given to us in that format.
But, we cannot forget that there is much substance behind the items on the list. They are like the "sound bites" and headlines on the news. They give a brief glimpse at the story without giving you the story. We can work off of lists, but we need to know what the items really mean- their depth and breadth.
Measurement and goals are important. If we can check off action steps and goals, and work our way through a list, we know we are making progress that is measurable. But we also need to know why we are doing those things and where doing them is taking us. How many employees would be happy being given a list of things to do every morning without knowing why they are doing them and and what the big picture is?
A consultant may have her "8 keys" but the program better include an understanding of how those eight fit together into an understandable big picture of a positive future. An employer may give an employee a list of goals but they need to be backed by an explanation of what achieving the goals means for the company and for the individual.
Lists are great- if they have substance behind them. Look at the substance first. Buy into that, and then use the list as mileposts on the way to success.
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