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December 2005

"You Want Me To Do What?!"

My outraged friend seemed to be coming through the phone, which I held a little away from my ear as he said, “YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?!”

This happened several years ago.  All I had done was give a suggestion on how he might improve his effectiveness as a manager.  He was one of the best managers I had come across.  I can’t even remember the specifics of what prompted my suggestion. 

All I know is Bill considered it pretty radical.

My suggestion was, “Bill, you need to periodically shut the door, put your feet up on the desk, lean back, and…think.”

“YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?!”

“Think.”  For a fast-paced, bottom-line, action-oriented guy like Bill, this was hard to take.  Like a lot of capable managers and leaders, Bill was always busy, too busy to take time to just sit back and think.  And he told me so in no uncertain terms. 

The next week, he called back and said that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Bill was like a lot of managers today who are so busy they rarely take the time to think about what they’re doing, and how they can improve.  And yet it’s something all of us need to do periodically.

This is important, especially in today’s world of 24-7 connections to technology.  With computers, cell phones, pagers, beepers, Blackberries, and Ipods, not to mention TV and radio, when do we ever get time for the solitude of thinking? 

Sure, we feel that the work we’re doing is always more important, but it’s not.  Not always, anyway.

We need time, uninterrupted time, to just think.  And what do we think about?  For starters, what is it we’re doing, how well are we doing it, and how can we improve. 

Lots of times, we’ll come to the conclusion that we’re doing too many of the wrong things, and not enough of the right things.

As someone once said, efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.

I think about this when I’m on a train, and see everyone on cell phones, or their heads buried in books, or their glazed eyes glued to the laptop screen.  I wonder, what’s wrong with just looking out the window, and watching the scenery sweep by?

In this information age, we’re so into audio and visual stimulation.  Sometimes we just need to sit back and think.

Don’t get me wrong.  I have nothing against getting things done, or taking advantage of “down” time.  I just feel that sometimes we need to step back and look at the bigger picture of what we’re doing, and how we can be more effective.

If you’re a manager, you can think about how you can do a better job of motivating your employees.  Or, how you can tap into the employees’ vast reservoir of experience to come up with innovative ways to create, or manufacture, or market. 

The possibilities are endless, but it requires quiet time.

For other leaders, you can think about improving the relationships you have with others.  How you can do a better job of promoting teamwork, employee engagement, or achieving goals.

I write about this now, because the Holiday Season provides all of us with time off, away from work.  During the Holidays, it might be a little easier to find the quiet time needed for this reflection. 

It’s also a good time to evaluate what you’ve done in the last year, and to develop goals for 2006.  And one of those goals should be to schedule time to think.

My friend, Bill, eventually came to like the idea.  Unfortunately, he didn’t get to practice it long.  Within a year he had died of a heart attack at the young age of 44.

Time really is precious.  Use it wisely.  May all of you have a wonderful Holiday Season, and a Happy New Year.

Until next edition, keep leading the way!

Copyright (C) 2005 by Terry Wall

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