Much of the work I do these days is helping busy leaders “debottleneck” themselves, which not only helps them claw back their lives, it boosts the productivity of their entire company, division or team.
It’s very rewarding for me, for them, for their colleagues, but especially for their families.
But it’s tricky … because the solutions are counter-intuitive.
The #1 problem?
They all start out believing that being busy equals being productive.
Because that’s the common sense they’ve learnt throughout their career, and it’s the common sense their colleagues share. It’s how they judge themselves, how they judge others, and how they think others judge them.
And, by being busy, they think they’re good role models for their team.
That said, they all know - logically - that there’s a difference between being busy and being too busy.
If they’re too busy, THEN
- they’re not just slowing down their entire team, they’re
- probably cut corners and making poor decisions, which
- creates future rework and other types of failure demand,
- which makes them even businer in the future.
The “too busy habit loop” isn’t just a loop, it’s a vicious circle.
Last week I found an article that helps people see how to break the loop. It’s so good I sent it on to 4 of my clientsand they all LOVED IT.
The article, by Roger L Martin, is titled “Being ‘Too Busy’ Means Your Personal Strategy Sucks”.
It’s a little jargonny, unless you’ve read his most recent book, but once you get beyond that, Roger shares a beautiful example, which, I promise, will resonate with you and any of your friends, family, or colleagues who are too busy and need to debottleneck themselves and their teams.
Hope that helps. Hope you are well. Click replay and say “hello”!
Clarke