How use those that minimize work to make the organization more effective

Blessed are the Lazy for they shall get it done with the least amount of work

How use those that minimize work to make the organization more effective.

Lazy or just smart.

Call them what you will . . . insightful, effective, efficient . . . but some just use simpler terms like . . . lazy, or cheaters. My father always said that “if you had something important to do, you will want to find a lazy man to do it and then they will show you the most effective way to do it”.

Years ago I had a great boss and friend, who had just finished a long and celebrated career with one of the largest corporations in the county. His big company job had him buried under a daily press of paperwork. He indicated that for a couple of years he walked by the office of a senior vice president everyday on the way to his desk, who seemed to have complete control of the weight of the paperwork.

“How does he do it?” . . . was my friends question. He never seemed to be in his office, always at meetings or on the road (this was in the day before personal computers and their work load.). So finally the question was asked . . . multiple times. It took many months before the VP felt confident enough to share the secret without fear of my friend telling others.

The answer was amazing.

“See that stack of paper on the corner of my desk?” . . . motioned our VP. “Once every couple of weeks I take the bottom 2/3 of the pile and throw it away.”

My friends look of shock and “no way . . . are you kidding” got the following explanation.

“All sorts of people have projects, jobs, things they want to sell me.”. . . Responded this executive. “If it is really important, it is most likely in the top 1/3 of the stack or the important document was sent with an accompanying phone call. If it was in the bottom, the round file portion, then when (and if) the person called . . . I would indicate I had not seen their document . . . and another one would be sent immediately.”

I am not kidding. This really happened. And this is a big organization.

With the way that information comes at us today, and the variety of the choices we are given, the ability to disregard the bottom two thirds may be one of life’s best skills.

What is the value of a good internet search engine? It allows us to filter out some of the unwanted information. I wonder if that isn’t why Google, which indexes off of what other people think is important, is so successful. We understand that less is more.

This brings us to a personal note.

Is your life reflecting this same kind of abundance of choices? How many items are on your “to do” list?

I recently facilitated a strategic planning session for a very talented group of managers for one of the largest corporations in our city. It took almost 45 minutes to delegate the group’s tasks to the team members. I waited until the appropriate time to coach this manager that he ought to consider dropping focus on the bottom ½. Those items were taking up time, resources and the energy of his team.

A focus of management is . . . the management of Focus.

How is your stack?

About Kordell Norton - The Top Line Guy

Your organization has a strong interest in the "top line" for growth. As a consultant, speaker, author, Kordell Norton works with corporate, association, education and government organizations who want to focus on branding, sales, marketing, strategic planning/leadership, team building, and customer service.

Kordell was an executive with several multi-billion dollar corporations with executive suite positions in sales, HR, marketing and call centers. As a certified Graphic Facilitator, he uses highly visual processes, along with humor, and entertaining methods for powerful, high energy presentations.

Author of Throwing Gas on the Fire - creating drastic change in Sales and Marketing

He can be reached at (330) 405-1950 or at kordell@kordellnorton.com or at his website - www.KordellNorton.com