The sheer velocity of change, the amplitude of the changes, and the volatility of changes have hit me like a brick over the last few weeks as I’ve flown in and out of consulting engagements. Regardless of industry or geography all my clients are wrestling with volatility and velocity. And all of them, including myself, have begun to respond to this by trying to move faster, reacting to every twitch in the marketplace and economy. Schedules are filling up with more and more activity, all of it reactionary attempts to respond to the risks generated by all this volatility.
Stranded in an airport due to delays late last week, I caught my breath just long enough to remind myself that a leader who is constantly reacting is a leader who is no longer thinking, whose priorities are now ordered by random and wildly fluctuating externalities, and thus is a leader who is putting the company at risk. I’m amazed at owners, executives, and leaders of all stripes who operate at such a fast pace that they resemble rocks skipping over the tops of huge issues β never stopping sufficiently to understand, frame, and act in a way that resembles insight, wisdom, or good judgment. As they travel at warp speed toward a certain wreck, they do the only thing they now know how to do, speed up even more.
A leader who is constantly reacting is a leader who is no longer thinking.
Stop the madness! What do you do? Probably the one thing you think you can’t afford to do or don’t have time to do: STOP! You have to take time to think.
Read Jack Trout’s article, No Time to Think. Trout is the author of the business classic, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. Re-reading this article reminded me that our habits and our gadgets are pushing us away from the ability to filter out noise and think effectively.
As Trout says,
“We have become a world of reactors, not thinkers, at a time when good thinking is so desperately needed. In business, it’s rapidly segmenting markets, increasing competition and new technologies. In government, it’s rapidly segmenting countries, changing demographics and new disputes. In both cases, making bad decisions will cost as never before.“
I tell executives that the most important thing for a company β that most determines its risk or opportunity β is what the leader is thinking. It’s from that thinking that assumptions are formed, judgments and decisions are made, priorities are established, and courses are set.
1. Begin by analyzing what is exactly happening to your time. Keep a log for 30 days in 15 minute increments and see where your time really goes. If that’s too tedious, at least look over your calendar each day and study what really happened versus what was scheduled.
2. Eliminate all things that you should not be doing. Be ruthless about this. It’s amazing how much we do that others should be doing or could be doing better. Thinking that we are indispensable is one root cause of this habit. Peter Drucker was oft quoted as saying, “What managers decide to stop doing is often more important than what they decide to do.”
3. Create blocks of time in your schedule devoted to thinking. Schedule one full day each month. Schedule a block of time at the beginning and end of each day. Schedule a few hours at the beginning or the end of the week. One executive I know now schedules a long weekend each month at a cabin far away from noise, interruption, or cell signals.
4. For the extended periods of time, get away from the office and get off the grid. Lose the connectivity for a few hours. For the daily chunks of time, close the door or go get a cup of coffee.
5. Leave the urgencies and do-lists behind. Focus on the purpose, future, and health of your company and its people. Focus on the most critical priorities that will move the organization forward.
6. And here’s a novel thought β How about spending some of this time praying? How about letting God hear what you are anxious and perplexed about? How about just quieting your heart and mind and listening to what He might be saying?
No time to think? Really? Is this a matter of better time management? Not really. Time is not managed. We can only manage ourselves. If we understand that good thinking is absolutely necessary for personal and organizational well being, then we need to zealously pursue it and guard it as a priority.
Next: Part Two: No Time to Trust (Insights from the life of the Master)
