Are Productivity and Email Mutually Exclusive?

I recently worked a major development project and found that the 600+ emails a day were completely paralyzing me, and I knew I wasn't alone.  I announced that I was implementing a new policy of "Planned Neglect."  Essentially, I said "I will look at emails first thing in the morning and in the evening, no more than thirty minutes each.  If you have a crisis that I absolutely must participate in then come see me or call me.  You know where I am and you have my numbers.  Use them."

As a result I discovered that,

• My ability to focus concentration on the most important matters and tasks increased dramatically
• My productivity and value contribution soared
• The quality of personal interactions improved
• People respected and even cheered my stance, and
• I enjoyed the project and life a whole lot more

This was not me running away and hiding from the world.  I did not limit my accessibility to the team, in fact I improved it.  Lesson learned?  Some day email will go the way of the Dodo Bird.  Until then it needs to be managed, as does any other good tool that turns into a time killer.

Your productivity and value quotient are the most important assets you contribute - protect them.

The Magic of Doing One Thing At A Time

Tony Schwartz has a great blog post at HBR on how multi-tasking is not always such a good thing.  Good stuff and I'm a believer.  It's more than longing for "the good old days," it's about being able to maximize the impact of our time.  Check out ....  http://bit.ly/y7wvHy

Changing the Education Paradigm

I'm a new fan of RSA Animate.  If you haven't seen their stuff then start with this video.  Compelling, insightful, thought provoking analysis of our broken education system - done in an entertaining and enjoyable fashion.  Brilliant, I say!

Practice What You Believe

Standing and perusing my bookshelf my eyes settled on an old friend. Max DuPree, the head of Herman Miller for many years wrote "Leadership is an Art." It has always been one of my favorites because it speaks to leadership principles with a simple yet compelling style. Looking at it on the shelf I recalled an illustration he used.

“The noted English architect, Sir Christopher Wren once built a structure in London. His employers claimed that a certain span Wren planned was too wide, that he would need another row of columns for support. Sir Christopher, after some discussion, acquiesced. He added a row of columns, but he left a space between the unnecessary columns and the beams above.

“The worthies of London could not see this space from the ground. To this day, the beam has not sagged. The columns still stand firm, supporting nothing but Wren’s conviction.”

It is easy to be moved by the crowd in most situations. In our culture it is often difficult to stand apart, to go against the grain, to buck the system. But sometimes it is the right thing to do regardless of its difficulty or risk. This doesn't require that you be a "leader," although you may be. It simply requires that you have the belief of your convictions and stand for what you believe is right.

Sometimes the crowd is wrong.

We Have Choices to Make

My wife and I are expecting again. Well, to be honest, our son and daughter-in-law are expecting again but at this stage of life we get to share in the joy too. And a joy she (our first “she”) will be. It got me to thinking. Here I am about to welcome my fifth grandchild into the world. Me! It seems like the last time I checked I was twenty-something and about to teach the world a thing or two.

There has been a lot of teaching since then and I’ve been in the student’s seat for virtually all of it. I’ve learned new things about love, loyalty, sacrifice, and friendship. I’ve learned that life is rarely as difficult as it sometimes wants us to believe, as long as we believe. With a reservoir of faith and strength greater than our own we can and often do overcome and achieve, usually in spite of the obstacles. This is not to say that life is easy, but we often make it more complicated than it needs to be. It is not easy, but it is really very simple.

Right now the economy and its various forms of fallout have us spiraling. While we say we think it has begun to turn upward again no one expects an early return to the old normal. That may never come, and why should it? In fact, why would we want it to? After all, the old normal led us to the current normal and frankly, it’s not so great.

So I asked myself, what would create a new normal that would restore and renew us? The answer is very simple. People would do what they say. Decisions would not be based on greed. Everyone would know that they are accountable and what that means. Value would be attributed to those who create real benefit. We would focus more on the things that unify us than on the things that divide us. We would teach our children that life, not things, have value. We would understand that behavior has consequences. We would know that we are responsible for each other and accountable to each other. We would act with the knowledge that ideals are powerful and can change the way we behave, the way we love and yes, the way we do business.

An idealist, you say? Unabashedly so, but also a pragmatist. I’ve lived the life I’ve lived. I’ve seen technologies and the seduction of success come and go. I’ve witnessed countless “next best things” and movements. And what I see left is people. I see me and I see you. I see that we have power to make choices and the capacity to choose those ideals that are good and reject those that are not. I see that we have a wealth of experience and knowledge and that new horizons call to us. Horizons that will excite us, challenge us, and reward us. I see that we have the opportunity to create something new.

As I look to our collective past I am encouraged. We are not the first to suffer hardship and turmoil. The fact that we are only proves that we are humans living in an imperfect world. What matters most, I believe, is what we decide to do about it.

It really is simple. Do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons. Give each other the freedom to hold our own beliefs. Celebrate a life in common. Have the courage to succeed.

Simple. Not easy. Vital.