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!

To the politician, Business exists to provide jobs and pay taxes. But, as one economist noted, important jobs with life or death consequences (and presumably a correspondingly high employee self-esteem) could be created overnight by placing the unemployed in charge of busy intersections and turning off the automated traffic lights. This easy change, if mandated, would create many jobs but would destroy wealth. “Broken Window” economics creates jobs in the short term, but what about tomorrow?

To the naive, Business exists to ‘get’ money. By this poor standard, cat burglars, grifters and extortionists could meet the definition of businessman. An immature child of a financially secure home might think in terms of of how to get ‘his share’ of the family pie, but the adult that characterizes “distribution of natural abundances” or “rationing of scarcities” as the fundamental economic issue is destructively wrong.

To the entrepreneur, business is the only tool that can create substantial new wealth. Its somewhat obvious how machinists, welders, and even artists and writers create values – but how does the businessman do it? There are three essentials, and one is fundamental.

Businesses take long-term risks with capital, and innovate. If successful, they cause energy, materials and, most importantly, time to be used more effectively. Failing businesses waste everyone’s time and money, and destroy wealth. Successful innovators are always reformulating in order to extravagantly ‘waste’ the least expensive and most abundant commodity in order to recycle, conserve and spare the most precious. This has always been the nature of enterprise and has never needed the pious urgings and second-guessing of under-employed eco-worriers.

New jobs and new markets for existing products and services are natural consequences of expanding wealth. Our distracted American business culture sometimes loses sight of this. They forget that every serious, sustainable and profitable product and service makes their customers, suppliers and employees wealthier. (A sale should always be ´win/win´). Other than the frivolous, why do you buy any product or service? It’s good for you! “Working America gives at the office.”

In addition to innovation, a successful business must “milk the cow”,or if you prefer: “Feed the goose and collect the golden eggs.” More than one brilliant business innovation has been frittered away by leaders who measured the importance of correct, consistent and capable operations by their own lack of interest. Operations savvy is about more than just ´cutting costs´. Looking for the proverbial “one less olive per jar”, nickel and dime-ing customers on fees, and squeezing employees, is a parody and a misdirection.

Finally, there is a complex and fascinating third element in the creation of wealth. Its proper discussion exceeds the scope intended for this brief article. I will mention it only to hold a place for future discussion, and that is the power of conceptual integrity to create wealth. If you are intrigued with this teaser, I will leave with you the two words that are the key: “Know Thyself.”