All other things being equal... they never are. Managing ourselves with an inverted pyramid
May 31, 2016
I manage volunteers, and when I ask them to do something, they often respond, "Yes, if you'll supply me with ____." One of the days, I'm going to get smart enough to recognize that as a "no." I admire them for finding a way to push back and delay. Here are more good tips from Sam Spurlin.
The Ready on Medium: Why Effective Organizations and People Know “The Inverted Pyramid is Fractal”, 2016-May-25 by Sam Spurlin
“What is critical and what can be pushed until later?” “What’s a need to have vs. what’s a nice to have?” You ask these questions at the beginning of a project, at the beginning of a day of work, at the beginning of a session of work, at the beginning of the next five minutes ad infinitum.
It forces you to become much more clear-eyed and ruthless about prioritizing the work you need to do to vs. the work you’d like to do or think maybe you’ll do.
- All work is not created equal.
- All work not shipped doesn’t count.
- All resources are finite.
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I don’t build my daily schedule around the myriad of minor tasks and responsibilities that make up my life, but instead let them filter between the cracks of the most important work I do.