Emergic: October 10, 2004 Archives

Sunday, October 10, 2004

Too Busy To Think?

Innovation Weblog links to Gerry McGovern who writes:

Being busy is often an excuse for not doing something you should be doing. For me it has often been an excuse for not thinking, managing, and planning properly. Working hard is no longer the route to success it once was perceived to be. In an era of outsourcing and offshoring, success definitely does require hard work, but what is way more important is smart work. Basically, all the hard work will be outsourced, with just the smart work remaining.

If you want to have a successful future, you must learn to become a better manager, both of yourself and other people. The rise in offshoring, for example, leads to a rise in the need for clear planning, and precise project management.

The world is full of busy people, but there is a definite lack of quality planners and project managers. Stop measuring yourself on how busy you are. Start measuring yourself on how effective you are.

Management | PermaLink | Comments (3)

I agree with the author and I believe this issue is deeper rooted than practice alone. One can’t just change overnight what one thinks about oneself and the definition of success. It is a time-consuming process which requires persistence and patience, one that will effect the core of your understanding of life and work. However, once that core has been re-aligned I believe the spill over effect will effortlessly help smoothen numerous interactions with people in the professional and personal spheres. I am personally dealing with the same dilemma; being a new entrepreneur I am continuously stretched between personal and professional priorities and one of the biggest lines I have to draw is between ‘What can be done later?’ and ‘What cannot?’.

This method, I believe, is the most effective to stifle vision and innovation. For both one has to have an everclear holistic view of the industry, it’s environment and the world all at once. With a ‘always busy’ attitude and lifestyle, the ego is the only thing being built up and everything else is in harm’s way. It is my aim to come to terms with the reality of my situation and comprehend the needs of now and tomorrow such that I can judge what is it that I must do for the best tomorrow. If I can pull that off, the rest will be history.

Posted by Abhimanyu Chirimar

Ever heard of the MAFA Principle.

MAFA – Mistaking Activity For Achievement

You get the point - how we all get lost in our activity and the resulting busyness and forget all about what needs to be achieved - mistaking activity for achievement.

I am told this was coined many years back by one of the best managers of our times, Mr Suresh Krishna, Chairman of Sundram Fasteners (of TVS group).

Posted by yuvaraj galada

No doubts about what the author has to say,
In an era of fading lines between what is your job and what is others ... it is imperative that an individual periodically monitors his activities and seperates the core activities from the dispensable ones......

Posted by Jassim Ali

Being Courageous

[via Innovation Weblog] Dave Pollard has a review of "The Medici Effect" by Frans Johansson. He summarises one of the key messages:

Being courageous means:

a willingness to break free from old-paradigm networks which reinforce old thinking

a willingness to give up the security (for what it's worth) of your present job

a willingness to fight knee-jerk defenders of the status quo, who will 'black-hat' anything new or threatening

a willingness to confront the possible social stigma of 'failure' and non-conformity

the ability to walk away from unsuccessful 'sunk' costs and not throw good money after bad

the ability to reframe alternatives from risk-averse to risk-accepting

the ability to acknowledge your fears and overcome them

a willingness to follow your heart

Entrepreneurship | PermaLink | Comments (0)