Operation Improvement Inc.

Dr. Charles Hobbs, the time management guru of the 70’s, was quite clear that “prioritization” of tasks was a process. He advocated a daily review of things to be done - anticipating the context of the next 24 hours. “What should I work on today?’

Perhaps a copy of a copy isn’t a sharp as the original. After Dr. Hobbs ideas were popularized by Franklin Planner, and then Franklin-Covey enthusiasts - the notions of “priority” and “prioritizing” took a different direction in their popular usage.  Apparently, many folks began to think of priorities as intrinsic properties of action items, and this created a conflict.

Contrast this: “Working out tomorrow morning is my top priority.” (The Dr.  Hobbs “daily prioritization” approach) with: “Working Out is my top priority.” Do you see the difference?

The first and proper approach is the product of a frequent process of assessment immediately before opportunity for action. The second is an attempt to assign a priority to an action as an intrinsic characteristic of that action. This essentially elevates that action to the essence of virtue, regardless of time and situation. This second approach inevitably leads to daily conflicts between what I “ought to” be doing, and what I -must do- today.

Apparently, a lot of folks have made this mistake, because the web is buzzing with a “new” approach to time management called “Getting Things Done”. (Here is an Amazon book link to the author, David Allen.) Open Source developers have developed an an Android app called “Shuffle” and a web based app called “Tracks” that implement one important concept from the GTD portfolio.

You are no doubt familiar with the basic task list. Evey Desktop email & calendar program seems to have them. There is a field to describe the task, enter a note, a due date, and (sometimes) a “task becomes active after…” date.  Tracks and Shuffle builds on this common structure.

Instead of adding a priority field (leading some down the wrong path), Tracks and Shuffle require that every task be placed in a “context”; a “when” or “where” describing the situation that action is appropriate. People have used “When I am Fresh”, “When I Am Tired”, “Weekend”, “Errand Day”, “When I See Jim”, and so on.  This helps to automate prioritization. The software creates short, relevant, and “dynamic”  priority lists appropriate to the context.

Both Track and Shuffle support tagging tasks with Project Name, to organize tasks that cumulate in an an objective or sustain a capability. This creates a task matrix and you can shift perspectives with a mouse click. You can view tasks by project, or tasks by context.

There is much more to the GTD methodology, and other programs have attempted to automate other aspects of David Allen’s materials. However, I am a fan of the “small sharp & simple tool” approach to automation. Shuffle and Tracks both have very easy learning curves. You use these tools without a lot of preparation, and without a lot of system housekeeping. Both have made the entry of new tasks a simple and fast process with a minimum of extra returns, tabs and clicks to get the task into the system.

iPod users should search for GTD, and may want to settle on an app  that “syncs” tasks, contexts and projects with Tracks,  as Shuffle does. Visit the Tracks developer site, and in the support documentation you will find free Tracks hosting services from small companies that hope to be the next “Twitter”. (Be cautious about storing passwords and other sensitive information in these public systems.)

If you are a small business,you may want to look into setting up a TRACKS server for your employees. Just remember, these are tools for personal task management.  They do not replace other collaboration tools such as Google Apps, Zimbra, Drupal, Sharepoint, etc.  A new tool to organize and manage one’s personal To-Dos is often the jump start people need to follow through on those new year resolutions!

On the internet, a TROLL is someone who baits an innocent into a war of words in a discussion forum. The object of the argument is not truth or knowledge, but a “slice and dice” victory at any cost, and Trolls love to play this game for hours. (Google:”What is a Troll?” for more information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll)

Now, I have heard “Troll” behavior called “sport”, “spoiling for a fight”, “jerking someone’s chain”, “gotcha”, “bullying”  and a couple of more vulgar expressions.  Every time the innocent  gives the troll the benefit of the doubt (”Maybe they -really- want to know the answer to that question.”),  the Troll slaps their knee and says “I can’t believe they fell for it again.”

Managers need to know that troll behaviour does not occur only in cyberspace. Many times, those “core teams” whose meetings never end, are tricked into ploughing the same ground again and again by a troll in their midst. As a leader, you need to be able to spot and squelch a troll - or they will destroy the morale and productivity of your team.

No weight of argument will forcibly write ‘truth’ on a human mind. One must, in effect,  press the mental  “total” key and draw a conclusion. Trolls delight in sowing and exploiting uncertainty in others, and will either mirror that uncertainty or become dogmatic and definite as the game advances.

My advice? Learn to “call the question” once evidence has been presented and debated. Learn to adjudicate. Learn to choose. Be willing to accept a few small mistakes. It is the price of leadership.

Oh, and Don’t feed the trolls!

¨Accurately Visualize The Current State Of Your Operation.¨

Decision Support is that business function specifically charged with the question, ´What do we know about our operation, and how do we know it?” The deliverable is Metrics and Measures. In this view, financial data is a specific instance in this broader category.

In a business of any size, a ´complete and clear picture´ of the current state of the business is a collection of summaries. This is true from operations and accounting to marketing. For example, you might see reports that contrast: east versus west coast sales, plant versus plant profitability, shift versus shift utilization, and manufacturing lot versus lot quality.

Now, ´east versus west coast´ may not be the crucial distinction, and that is the point.   We want our data, reports and statistics to become  actionable ideas that positively impact decisions and behavior. Identifying which distinctions are critical is one of the secrets of successful business metrics.

If such distinctions were intrinsic, any honest person could simply ¨look¨ and determine how to organize data into information.But, proper organization of data into information is work that requires knowledge and skill. If improperly done, honest and accurate data (badly summarized) will send the organization marching off in exactly the wrong direction. (I have multiple ´actually happened´examples that I have shared with clients in classes and consultation.)

Decision Support is not “in” your technology, quality or accounting departments, and should not be confused with software packages (Decision Support Systems) that you might buy. It is a crucial and on-going  capability that must be developed by management, and it requires an integration with  accounting, information technology and quality.

Decision Support is Information Architecture at its highest level, where information truly is about the business ideas within the data, and not the numbers, calculations and graphs. It is key to simplification, to maximizing your ´ease of doing business´, and to rapidity and accuracy in decision-making.

A ´complete and clear picture´ is the cause of confident action, and our  Management Philosophy´s #1 principle demands it.