Happy Today,
My summer read is Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath. I’m hoping to get through Switch and then finish Reset.
In Switch, there is a line that asks,
“How much of your time is spent on solving problems versus scaling success?”
It really made me think about how I use my time at work. (During the day, I’m a school district director of college and career readiness.)
Of course there are always going to be problems. Small problems. Things that might only impact a few.
A lot of my time is spent solving problems. That’s okay. I’m in the “take care of the small things and the big things fall into place” camp.”
Small problems aren’t inherently bad. Any change or growth will require new problems. It’s a part of it.
How much time should I spend on solving small problems, though?
10%?
20%?
40%?
Whatever it is, I’d like it to be less.
I think I need to spend more time on scaling success.
This looks different than solving problems.
It’s putting things into motion.
Big picture thinking.
Down the road thinking and planning.
Change management thinking.
How do you balance it?
Maybe set time limits or time block.
Maybe make decisions quickly on things that are important, but not that important.
Spend more time on the more importanter :) things that will have a bigger impact.
Here’s to managing time better.
Row the Boat. Raise the Jolly Roger. Don’t Give Up The Ship.
-mllr