Don McMinn

According to American business historian Robert Sobel, the British government created a civil-service job in 1803 which called for a man to stand on the white cliffs of Dover with a spyglass and to ring a bell if he saw Napoleon coming. Napoleon died in 1821; the job continued until 1945.

Insanity surrounds us:

• Arizona – It is illegal for donkeys to sleep in bathtubs.
• Florida – If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle.
• Kentucky – One may not dye a duckling blue and offer it for sale unless more than six are for sale at once.

Peter Drucker coined the phrase “organized abandonment” to describe the process whereby we can free up resources that are committed to maintaining things that no longer contribute to performance and no longer produce results.

According to Drucker, the change-leader puts every product, every service, every process, every customer, and every end use on trial for its life. The question to ask is, “If we did not do this already, would we, knowing what we now know, go into it?” If the answer is no, abandon it. The change-leader must also ask, “If we were to go into this now, knowing what we now know, would we go into it in the same way we are doing it now?’” [Drucker, Management Challenges for the 21st Century, pg.74]

The term organized means doing this regularly and on a systematic basis.

Over time, organizations and individuals become burdened by unproductive and unnecessary actions. On a regular basis we must ruthlessly evaluate all functions and jettison those that no longer contribute.

In your personal life, organized abandonment might probe these areas:

• Do I still benefit from reading a physical daily newspaper or should I get my news digitally?
• Is there a healthier alternative to my typical breakfast?
• If I was not currently living in my neighborhood, would I choose to move here?
• Have some of my relationships grown stale; would I benefit from new, more invigorating relationships?

In your organization, probe these areas:

• As I consider every position in my organization, is each one still needed?
• Do I have the right people in key positions?
• If I had the opportunity to fill a position, would I hire the same person who is presently working in that position?
• As I analyze every line item of the budget, are all expenditures still justified?
• Are our products still viable?
• Are there any customers we should “fire”?

Another approach to this topic is to regularly adjust your life using the Keep—Stop—Start formula:

I want to keep doing, or do more of _______.
I want to stop doing, or do less of _______.
I want to start doing _______.

“We’ve always done it that way” is a feeble justification for any activity.

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In the epic biblical story of David and Goliath, David was confident that he could kill the giant because, “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them” (1 Samuel 17:36).

Young David was prepared for a large task because he had been successful in smaller ones (though one might argue that slaying a lion and a bear are not small tasks).

Often in life, we can learn important skills in small settings and then transfer them to larger ones. Learning is maximized when we realize that the small setting can be a training exercise. 

I once read that a well-known management consultant (I can’t remember the name) advised recent MBA graduates to work for one year at a big-box store (Home Depot, Staples) because they would be exposed to every aspect of a business (income, expenses, personnel, inventory, ordering and receiving products, marketing, customer relations, etc.). It would be a fast track to learn how to lead a large organization.  

Leaders, if you learn how to properly manage a small team of people—perhaps four or five—you can use the same skills to supervise a large group. If you learn how to cast vision in a small organization, you can use the same principles in a large one. If you train yourself to be emotionally intelligent at home, the same skills will work in the marketplace. Learn leadership lessons in a small setting because they will transfer into a larger one, and the inevitable failures that occur while learning will be less consequential in a small setting.  

Most skills, traits, and concepts are transferable; once you master them in a small environment they will scale up. But if you don’t know how to utilize them in a small setting, you won’t use them in a large one.

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What information consumes is attention. A wealth of information means a poverty of attention. Herbert A. Simon, cognitive scientist

We are inundated with bits of information—emails, text messages, phone calls, snippets of news—and they all distract us from focused thought and work. We pride ourselves on being able to negotiate multiple, disparate tasks simultaneously. Multitasking has become a badge of honor in a chaotic world.

But multitasking is a myth. Physiologically, it’s not possible.  

In their must-read-book Altered Traits, Goleman and Davidson write:

“Many denizens of the digital world pride themselves on being able to multitask, carrying on their essential work even as they graze among all the other incoming bits of information. But compelling research from Stanford University has shown that this very idea is a myth—the brain does not ‘multitask’ but rather switches rapidly from one task to others.

“Attention tasks don’t really go on in parallel; instead they demand rapid switching from one thing to the other. And following every such switch, when our attention returns to the original task, its strength has been appreciably diminished. It can take several minutes to ramp up once again to full concentration. 

“The harm spills over into the rest of life. For one, the inability to filter out the noise (all those distractions) from the signal (what you want to focus on) creates a confusion about what’s important, and so a drop in our ability to retain what matters. Heavy multitaskers are more easily distracted in general. And when multitaskers do try to focus on that one thing they have to get done, their brains activate many more areas than just those relevant to the task at hand” [Altered Traits, Goleman and Davidson, page 137].

Here’s a simple application of this insight: People cannot read and listen at the same time.

In the past, while teaching a seminar, I would distribute a handout to the students and then begin to talk while they read the handout. I realize now that they weren’t listening to me because no one can read and listen at the same time. 

Here’s a simple way to develop extended focus. 

Most smartphones have a timer. Set it for a certain amount of time and focus exclusively on one thing, ignoring all distractions. Also use the timer to measure spans of time during which you allow your mind to respond to “distractions”—disparate things that need to be addressed.

Proponents of meditation value the trait of mindfulness because it strengthens the brain’s ability to focus on one thing and ignore distractions [see Altered Traits, page 131]. 

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Give me enough ribbons to place on the tunics of all my soldiers and I can conquer the world. Napoleon 

As a leader, through the years I have been unaware of the power and importance of expressing sincere and well-deserved appreciation to team members and individuals. I vow to correct this neglect and make “placing ribbons on the tunics of my team members” a high priority.

Consider this:

“Carolyn Wiley of Roosevelt University reviewed four similar studies of employee motivation conducted in 1946, 1980, 1986, and 1992. In each of the studies, employees were asked to rate the factors that motivated them. Popular answers included ‘interesting work,’ ‘job security,’ ‘good wages,’ and ‘feeling of being in on things.’ Across the studies, which spanned 46 years, only one factor was cited every time as among the top two motivators: ‘full appreciation of work done.’ 

“The importance of recognition to employees is inarguable. But here’s the problem: While recognition is a universal expectation, it’s not a universal practice. 

“Wiley sums up the research: ‘More than 80 percent of supervisors claim they frequently express appreciation to their subordinates, while less than 20 percent of the employees report that their supervisors express appreciation more than occasionally.’ Call it the recognition gap.” [From The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath, page 145]

Expressing appreciation can be simple and quick, and it costs nothing. In your staff meeting, brag on a team member. Write a personal note of appreciation. Give a team member an afternoon off as a reward for good work. Public praise is more powerful than affirming someone privately, though both are beneficial.

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