Monday, May 07, 2007

Where's Your Camp?

Years ago, Henry Mintzberg studied the daily activities of managers and found that although work days might be carefully planned, in many cases they quickly turned into a jungle of unexpected interruptions.


Odds are, you didn't need to conduct a study to know that.


Every day, we clear paths and, if we are fortunate, make actual progress up the trail as opposed to simply restoring the status quo. Some of us are so busy handling interruptions that our jobs would be better described as Restorers of the Status Quo since we seldom move things forward. We sooth one employee's feelings, find a lost file, correct this, and modify that and at the end of the day are exhausted from chopping the foliage. We are content that we have a clear space to camp in for the night and yet if our progress were charted we'd find that we've been camped in the same spot for years.


I've heard professionals gringe at the routines of factory workers who are confined to attaching one part to another year after year and yet there is very little difference between the white collar job and its blue collar cousin.


So here's a simple test. Ask yourself at the end of the month how much progress has been made up the trail. If you're camping in the same place, it's time to plan a break-out by:



  • Creating systems to remove at least part of the jungle from your desk;

  • Training others to handle the maintenance work so you can focus on some trail blazing; or

  • Redefine your responsibilities.

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