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You Can't
Think With Your Tool Belt OnTM
My feeling is that
it is difficult to think about the big picture when you are caught up in day
to day activities. This newsletter is designed to help you keep perspective.
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Back Issue - Sept 2004
##########################################
Sept 2004
Publisher: Wayne McKinnon info@WayneMcKinnon.com
http://www.ITcoach.com
(C) Wayne McKinnon 2004
You Can't Think With Your Tool Belt On (tm)
is a semi monthly electronic newsletter
for anyone who is interested in EXCEEDING GOALS
and EXPECTATIONS while being RECOGNIZED for their
efforts and moving to work of higher value without
giving up on the idea that life should be fun.
NOTE: You Can't Think With Your Tool Belt On is a trademark of The McKinnon
Group.
##########################################
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Web link: http://www.wayneMckinnon.com
As the title of my newsletter suggests, I believe that at any level
it is too easy to focus on the task at hand and lose sight of the
bigger picture. I just completed a mechanical repair with the
help of a friend. I could have done it alone, but together we
were braver, and on many occasions he offered simple solutions
to challenges that I was wresting with during the repair.
Eventually I would have come up with the same solutions,
but who knows how much damage I could have caused
in the mean time? We all have our competencies in a variety of areas,
but sometime we are just too close to the situation to see the obvious.
For the next few minutes, lets go to the rack where
we hung up our brains, take off our tool belts and do a bit of thinking
that we might not always make time for beyond the operational stuff that we
are
usually are quite good at.
---------------
This Month
-Why do we rely on reflexes?
-Critical thinking
-Survey results - how does your organization stack up?
---------------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever faced a decision that you just couldn't make?
Or maybe you could make it but it took forever and even then you were left
wondering if
you did the right thing?
I can't imagine anyone not having been in this situation at least once in
their
lives
whether it be a business or personal decision. But there are those who just
always seem to
know which is the right decision, and their decisions are made quickly and
accurately.
Maybe you are one of those people. I never used to be. I just thought I was
a
slow thinker
in comparison, until I realized that relying on mental reflexes alone is not
the
way to go.
You might remember as a child, there was always the kid on the block that
was
better at
sports than everyone else. We called it better reflexes or natural talent.
In
some cases it
was just pure determination. I see no difference between physical and mental
reflexes.
They can both be developed to a higher level than their natural state, but
in
most cases
reflexes are a coping mechanism to deal with mistakes or the unexpected.
One test of physical reflexes is for the doctor to hit your knee with a
hammer
and see if
you get that 'knee jerk reaction' (personally I'd be more concerned with
being
punched
in the nose if I was wielding the hammer). This reflex is one of the easiest
to
measure,
indicating that our reflex system is in tact, and assuming it works
properly,
this one keeps
us from falling down when we slip. (If your foot begins to slip out from
under
you it
stresses the same knee tendon that the doctor hits, causing your knee to
jerk and
foot to
catch your fall). Whoa!
While this is a cool evolutionary advancement in modern human beings, we
could
get
along just fine without it if we just looked further ahead at where we are
going,
and
picked a path around the ice, or strapped on the proper footwear.
Some examples of not looking far enough ahead:
-Programmers who have been slaving away, ruining their lives to meet
deadlines
only to
emerge to find that their competitors from India can now be had for $800 US
dollars per
man month.
-Microsoft competitors that slug it out in infrastructure battles, only to
find
out that the
battle was over before it began when people realize that they already have
the
tools they
need as part of a recent upgrade. Lotus notes was caught off guard by
Microsoft
(e-mail
server upgrades just happened to provide a groupware solution as well), and
the
same is
happening today with Public Key Infrastructure (PKI ) that just happens to
be
sneaking in
the back door with the latest Windows server upgrades.
Some examples of not having a wide enough field of vision:
-Any organization that uses e-mail to speedup communications when it is
clearly
the
wrong tool and carries with it too much administrative overhead in managing
one's
inbox.
-A focus on fixing problems that occur consistently but could be completely
eliminated if
the right people were involved at the proper stages.
**********************************************************************************
In response to a popular request by subscribers of this news letter, as part
of
my
'eliminating e-mail stress package', I have created an electronic booklet
that
you can
download from my site titled: 'Staying Organized using Microsoft Outlook' It
is
essentially a time and space management course in booklet form. If you walk
through it
step by step you will not only organize your electronic space, but your
physical
space as
well.
**********************************************************************************
*
CRITICAL THINKING
It amazes me how every organization I know has some critical job functions
that
rely
more on reflexes and reaction times rather than taking a more proactive
stance,
and the
same goes for individuals.
Sometimes this is because no one was paying attention and allowed the
situation
to
continue for too long. I think that my telephone company falls into this
category. How
else can you explain front line employees who take the attitude that my lack
of
consistent
telephone service is not their problem? If not for the few good people at
the
phone
company who have stepped in and taken control, we may all have to revert
back to
using
smoke signals to communicate.
Or perhaps it's the mis-measurements that are applied to performance.
'Number of
support calls processed' is a terrible measure. Number of support calls
resolved
to the
satisfaction of the customer is much more meaningful. Number of support
calls
eliminated is even better.
I hate to be unnecessarily critical but when it is necessary my clients
indicate
that this
kind of thinking is of great value.
LET ME SHARE WITH YOU SOME OBSERVATIONS BASED ON A RECENT
SURVEY THAT I PERFORMED
How does your branch, division or department measure up against this list of
common
conditions?
1. Planning occurs, but much work is done largely in reactive mode;
3. low measures of value leads to efforts being viewed as a cost to be
controlled;
4. narrow focus makes it difficult to recognize business opportunities;
5. claim to be but are not truly customer driven;
6. have coping mechanisms in place that unintentionally hide the problems;
7. focus on economies of scale and are moving towards bigger is better. In
my
experience
this is leading away from the customer, both internal and external..
Improving upon these conditions will be the subject of an upcoming free
white
paper I
will be publishing. You can check my web site from time to time (
www.WayneMcKinnon.com )
for this and others, or you can fill out the form on my white paper page to
be
automatically notified when the next paper is available.
If you are interested in exploring how to overcome these conditions more
immediately,
drop me a line or give me a call. I'd be happy to chat.
Next month's news letter will focus on 'Wayne's recipe for leading yourself
and
others
in the direction of success.' As always I welcome subscribers to submit a
wish
list of
topics that you would like to see addressed. I'm not qualified to tackle
every
topic, but I
am able to go pretty wide and deep, so drop me a line and you just might see
your
topic
the focus of an upcoming edition.
Regards
Wayne
-------------------------------
Don't forget,
White papers are now on line at
www.WayneMcKinnon.com
-------------------------------
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