Colleagues,
While at my mom’s last week, I wanted to take care of a few things in her back yard. I didn’t have a lot of time but there is so much to do:
With limited time, where should I start? What criteria should I use for making the decision? The real question is why do anything at all? What is the outcome that warrants investing time in the garden? If mom can sit in her garden safely, then that would be a win. So, my first project was to install the handrail so she could get off the deck and into the garden. None of the other things would have mattered until the handrail was complete. It is a lot more fun (and easier) to plant seeds, but they wouldn’t matter if she couldn’t get to them. Reflect: Are you building handrails or planting seeds? Do good and be well, Frederick
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Colleagues,
Unfortunately, my mom was in the hospital last week. She is doing better now, but we had an interesting experience as we were working through the release process to get her home. We had a wonderful nurse named Joyce who managed the process, which included paperwork, reviewing important points, and showing me how to use some medical equipment. Joyce was awesome. She was fully present for us and radiated positivity – a real lighthouse. However, during the hour, Joyce received about 10 phone calls. She answered each one, and in many of them, she was providing the caller with a discrete piece of information relating to care coordination for a patient. Each time she received a call she had to stop working with us, shift her focus to the caller, answer a question, and then return to what she had been doing. She was used to this, so she seemed to transition fluidly, but I wonder how this impacts her performance and health over the course of a day, of weeks, or of months. This is an organizational issue. How much time was lost in transition? How much more likely is it that mistakes will be made? What is the impact on the person over time? Is there a leader in a position to change how communication flows within the organization? I hope so. For both Joyce’s sake and for her patients. Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues, The first principle of strategic leadership is to be purposeful by prioritizing the important over the urgent. Thinker and innovator Seth Godin suggested in a recent 115-word blog post: What if… the last thing we did [in a day] was make a list of exciting opportunities for the future? And if the first thing after waking up was doing some morning pages and jotting down what we’re looking forward to? It is a busy world, so you may not have time to devote an hour to quadrant 2 each morning, but could you replace the 15-20 minutes spent on your phone with 15-20 minutes of identifying opportunities and investing in organizational improvement?
Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues,
I’ve been doing a number of workshops recently that are focused on helping leaders “see the big picture.” The answer doesn’t need to be overly complex. Leaders who can see the big picture:
These three things provide a leader with clarity of purpose and of action. Do good and be well, Frederick Colleagues,
Last week, I flew from Asheville to San Francisco to spend a few days with my mom. I was shocked to find that the TSA screening line was empty! I moved straight to the front and then received the wonderful news that they were using a new technology and that I wouldn’t have to take anything out of my bags, even my laptop. I rejoiced. I merrily went through the body scan and walked over to the conveyor to get my stuff. There were a couple of people there already, so I waited. And waited. And waited. Maybe the new technology requires more time to scan and it seemed like it was flagging a lot of bags for extra scrutiny. The new tech treated the problem of having to remove items from your baggage. That should have made things easier, but it actually seemed to increase the effort required by the TSA people, resulting in a slowdown of the entire process. One of the challenges with change is always unanticipated consequences. As we make changes, don’t confuse action for effectiveness. Just because we are doing something about a problem, doesn’t mean that we are actually making things better. Do good and be well, Frederick |
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