Sharing the Wisdom of the World

Effective executives, in my observation, do not start with their tasks. They start with their time. And they do not start out with planning. They start by finding out where their time actually goes. Then they attempt to manage their time and to cut back unproductive demands on their time.

 

Finally they consolidate their “discretionary” time into the largest possible continuing units. This three-step process: recording time, managing time, and consolidating time is the foundation of executive effectiveness.

 

The output limits of any process are set by the scarcest resource. In the process we call “accomplishment,” this is time.

 

one cannot rent, hire, buy, or otherwise obtain more time.

 

Within limits we can substitute one resource for another, copper for aluminum, for instance. We can substitute capital for human labor. We can use more knowledge or more brawn. But there is no substitute for time.

 

most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable, and necessary resource. Nothing else, perhaps, distinguishes effective executives as much as their tender loving care of time.

 

They are as likely to underrate grossly the time spent in the room as to overrate it grossly.

 

If we rely on our memory, therefore, we do not know how time has been spent.

 

experiment with people in room and no outside light

 

The effective executive therefore knows that to manage his time, he first has to know where it actually goes.

 

 

THE TIME DEMANDS ON THE EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE

 

To be effective, every knowledge worker, and especially every executive, therefore needs to be able to dispose of time in fairly large chunks. To have small dribs and drabs of time at his disposal will not be sufficient even if the total is an impressive number of hours.

 

This is particularly true with respect to time spent working with people, which is, of course, a central task in the work of the executive. People are time-consumers. And most people are time-wasters. To spend a few minutes with people is simply not productive. If one wants to get anything across, one has to spend a fairly large minimum quantum of time.

 

The manager who thinks that he can discuss the plans, direction, and performance of one of his subordinates in fifteen minutes—and many managers believe this—is just deceiving himself.

 

Since the knowledge worker directs himself, he must understand what achievement is expected of him and why.

He must also understand the work of the people who have to use his knowledge output. For this, he needs a good deal of information, discussion, instruction—all things that take time.

 

“What should we at the head of this organization know about your work? What do you want to tell me regarding this organization? Where do you see opportunities we do not exploit? Where do you see dangers to which we are still blind? And, all together, what do you want to know from me about the organization?”

 

People must feel that “we have all the time in the world.” This actually means that one gets a great deal done fast.

 

But it means also that one has to make available a good deal of time in one chunk and without too much interruption.

 

Time in large, continuous, and uninterrupted units is needed for such decisions as whom to put on a task force set up to study a specific problem;

 

People-decisions are time-consuming, for the simple reason that the Lord did not create people as “resources” for organization. They do not come in the proper size and shape for the tasks that have to be done in organization—and they cannot be machined down or recast for these tasks.

 

“What one does not have in one’s feet, one’s got to have in one’s head.”

 

The more time we take out of the task of the “legs”—that is, of physical, manual work—the more will we have to spend on the work of the “head”—that is, on knowledge work.

 

 

TIME-DIAGNOSIS

 

Here the difference between time-use and time-waste is effectiveness and results. The first step toward executive effectiveness is therefore to record actual time-use.

 

The important thing is that it gets done, and that the record is made in “real” time, that is at the time of the event itself, rather than later on from memory.

software for this????

 

Time-use does improve with practice. But only constant efforts at managing time can prevent drifting.

KEY CONCEPT!!!

 

One has to find the nonproductive, time-wasting activities and get rid of them if one possibly can.

 

1. First one tries to identify and eliminate the things that need not be done at all, the things that are purely waste of time without any results whatever.

“What would happen if this were not done at all?”

 

2. The next question is: “Which of the activities on my time log could be done by somebody else just as well, if not better?”

 

o    As usually presented, delegation makes little sense. If it means that somebody else ought to do part of “my work,” it is wrong. One is paid for doing one’s own work.

 

o    But I have never seen an executive confronted with his time record who did not rapidly acquire the habit of pushing at other people everything that he need not do personally.

 

o    “Delegation” as the term is customarily used, is a misunderstanding—is indeed misdirection. But getting rid of anything that can be done by somebody else so that one does not have to delegate but can really get to one’s own work—that is a major improvement in effectiveness.

 

3. A common cause of time-waste is largely under the executive’s control and can be eliminated by him. That is the time of others he himself wastes.

o    Effective executives have learned to ask systematically and without coyness: “What do I do that wastes your time without contributing to your effectiveness?” To ask this question, and to ask it without being afraid of the truth, is a mark of the effective executive.

ACTION THIS!!!

 

We usually tend to overrate rather than underrate our importance and to conclude that far too many things can only be done by ourselves.

 

 

PRUNING THE TIME-WASTERS

 

Managers, however, need to be equally concerned with time-loss that results from poor management and deficient organization. Poor management wastes everybody’s time—but above all, it wastes the manager’s time.

 

1. The first task here is to identify the time-wasters which follow from lack of system or foresight. The symptom to look for is the recurrent “crisis,” the crisis that comes back year after year. A crisis that recurs a second time is a crisis that must not occur again.

 

o    A recurrent crisis should always have been foreseen.

 

o    The definition of a “routine” is that it makes unskilled people without judgment capable of doing what it took near-genius to do before; for a routine puts down in systematic, step-by-step form what a very able man learned in surmounting yesterday’s crisis.

 

o    a well-managed organization is a “dull” organization. The “dramatic” things in such an organization are basic decisions that make the future, rather than heroics in mopping up yesterday.

 

2. Time-wastes often result from overstaffing.  

o    My first-grade arithmetic primer asked: “If it takes two ditch-diggers two days to dig a ditch, how long would it take four ditch-diggers?” In first grade, the correct answer is, of course, “one day.” In the kind of work, however, with which executives are concerned, the right answer is probably “four days” if not

 

o    There is a fairly reliable symptom of overstaffing. If the senior people in the group—and of course the manager in particular—spend more than a small fraction of their time, maybe one tenth, on “problems of human relations,” on feuds and frictions, on jurisdictional disputes and questions of cooperation, and so on, then the work force is almost certainly too large.

 

3. Another common time-waster is malorganization. Its symptom is an excess of meetings.

o    one either meets or one works. One cannot do both at the same time.

 

o    Meetings, therefore, need to be purposefully directed.

 

4. The last major time-waster is malfunction in information.

 

 

CONSOLIDATING “DISCRETIONARY TIME”

 

The executive who records and analyzes his time and then attempts to manage it can determine how much he has for his important tasks.

 

“Mr. Drucker, I believe you’d better sum up now and outline what we should do next.”

 

I have found out that my attention span is about an hour and a half. If I work on any one topic longer than this, I begin to repeat myself. At the same time, I have learned that nothing of importance can really be tackled in much less time. One does not get to the point where one understands what one is talking about.”

 

“My secretary has strict instructions not to put anyone through except the President of the United States and my wife. The President rarely calls—and my wife knows better. Everything else the secretary holds till I have finished. Then I have half an hour in which I return every call and make sure I get every message. I have yet to come across a crisis which could not wait ninety minutes.”

 

The effective executive therefore knows that he has to consolidate his discretionary time. He knows that he needs large chunks of time and that small driblets are no time at all. Even one quarter of the working day, if consolidated in large time units, is usually enough to get the important things done. But even three quarters of the working day are useless if they are only available as fifteen minutes here or half an hour there.

 

Other men schedule all the operating work—the meetings, reviews, problem-sessions, and so on for two days a week, for example, Monday and Friday, and set aside the mornings of the remaining days for consistent, continuing work on major issues.

 

Monday and Friday he had his operating meetings, saw senior executives on current matters, was available to important customers, and so on. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons were left unscheduled—for whatever might come up;

 

But in the mornings of these three days he scheduled the work on the major matters—in chunks of ninety minutes each.

 

Most people tackle the job by trying to push the secondary, the less productive matters together, thus clearing, so to speak, a free space between them. This does not lead very far, however. One still gives priority in one’s mind and in one’s schedule to the less important things, the things that have to be done even though they contribute little. As a result, any new time pressure is likely to be satisfied at the expense of the discretionary time and of the work that should be done in it.

 

Effective executives start out by estimating how much discretionary time they can realistically call their own. Then they set aside continuous time in the appropriate amount. And if they find later that other matters encroach on this reserve, they scrutinize their record again and get rid of some more time demands from less than fully productive activities.

 

And all effective executives control their time management perpetually. They not only keep a continuing log and analyze it periodically. They set themselves deadlines for the important activities, based on their judgment of their discretionary time.

 

When he finds his deadlines slipping, he knows his time is again getting away from him.

 

 

 

 

The Value of Mentoring

Early in my career, I had the good fortune of working for two wildly different mentors: one who excelled in relationship-building, and the other in intellect. As I observed the former’s talent for working with clients, and contrasted it with the latter’s strategic proficiency, I came to understand the importance of playing to one’s strengths. In my case, I realized that I enjoy solving complicated problems in practical ways. I’ve enhanced this skill over the years and it has served me well in my professional life. Lesson: Understand and hone your natural strengths.

 

Know Your Blind Spots

While it may seem counterintuitive, people skills do not always come naturally to leaders. And yet the value of building trust through interpersonal relationships cannot be underestimated. When I accepted a position as head of litigation, I resolved to make it a priority to connect with my new colleagues. For someone who is a natural introvert, this required stepping outside my comfort zone. As I worked alongside people facing serious legal issues, listening to colleagues and accepting different points of view became essential to getting the job done. Fostering trusted relationships was one of the many positive outcomes of these exercises. Lesson: Always look for opportunities to stretch yourself.

 

Come to the Table With a Point of View

In another chapter of my career, I found myself seated across from my CEO who was seeking my opinion. The issue at hand involved an employee who had come under criticism. When the CEO asked me how I thought we should handle the situation, I hedged my response rather than offering my honest opinion. I was immediately disappointed with myself and it was clear my boss was, too. While I had taken the diplomatic route by offering various points of view, the only one he really wanted was my own. Lesson: Be decisive. People who respect your opinion will ask for it, so offer it with confidence.

 

 

Build a Great Team

Most leaders will agree that team-building is a priority, but it takes a considerable amount of time and work. Through the years I’ve refined my approach to two tactics. First, I strive to hire not only exceptionally talented people, but those with diverse backgrounds and experiences. And while it’s important to ask “Is this person qualified?”, I also place a premium on character: qualities such as trust and high integrity. People can learn new skills; they can’t learn character. Lesson: Surround yourself with the very best people you can find.

 

 

Key Take-Aways:

 

·         “In a marketplace where talent is scarce, boards are taking note of the opportunities for getting the talent agenda right—along with the risks of being left behind.”

 

·         One way to gauge the current and future trajectory of an organization’s talent platform is to evaluate HR’s project/program portfolio: How well does each directly align with the strategy of the business? The portfolio of investments will yield the organization’s future currency.

 

·         “The CHRO role must be reinvented. There are no longer “best practices” in human resources. Instead, the CHRO must be an executive who, like top CEOs, can envision and shape the talent strategy and architecture to align with transformational business objectives.”

 

·         “CHROs need a plan for attracting the right talent, not some generic concept of top talent” to fuel growth and competitive advantage.

 

·          Going forward, the effective future CHRO’s investment priorities will need to include fact-based, predictive insights.

 

·         CHROs should generate and syndicate clear problem statements specific to their industry and company situation, then deploy analytics to tease out the root causes and their dynamics.

 

·         The use of analytics to design, defend, and activate a growth-oriented agenda will be a key source of newfound credibility and a hallmark of great HR leaders.

 

·         Some leading HR teams are using predictive models to identify precisely where interventions should be targeted, down to the level of a particular person at a particular time, thereby getting greater impact from their limited resources. Consider how valuable this can be for a company trying to protect the gains it has made in diversity and inclusion, for example. Being able to direct highly focused interventions toward small cohorts or individuals who are at particular risk at specific times in their careers can make all the difference to retention.

 

·         More CHROs should join forces with chief marketing officers, seeking increasing crossover between marketing and recruitment.

 

·         Any company that wants the creativity and commitment of what Hagel and Brown call “passionate workers” needs to learn more about the means through which companies can enhance engagement.

 

·         And with many large companies pushing to have 50 percent of their new hires come from referrals,25 it’s today’s workers who will help define tomorrow’s workforce.

 

·         Inevitably, the misalignment of expectations between the CEO and the CHRO will be rectified by those HR leaders who are able to develop and deploy strategic, relationship, operational, and technical HR capabilities at scale.