Recently, I caught up with Tony Crabbe, author of Busy: How to Thrive In A World Of Too Much. The book shares a fresh new approach of how leaders can strategically navigate chaotic outside forces.
TONY: You express in the book, “Why we ‘think’ we’re busy is different than why we’re really busy.” What’s the difference?
We think we’re too busy because there is too much to do. It is true that as information, communication and demand continue to increase, there is too much to do; but I don’t think that’s why we’re really busy. I think busy is a choice, it’s a strategy and it’s an approach to happiness.
No one is asking us to check our email within a few seconds of waking in the morning, and yet we do. We choose to be constantly available, we choose to race and cram our way through our days. Fueled by guilt and competitiveness, if in doubt, we always choose more. We think the path to success is about doing more and being even more productive. So we push ourselves to be busier and busier; and then we brag/moan about it!
A lot of our activity – whether production or consumption – is a form of filling time. Let’s be honest with ourselves — email has become the TV of work: it doesn’t achieve a lot, it passes a lot of time. It’s more like light-entertainment than work!
TONY: You indicate there’s a misconception that the best way to respond to overload is by getting better organization and managing time better. If not that, what’s the best response?
Time management and personal organization are not the answer. They both work brilliantly when we can do everything that’s expected of us. But, in a world of near infinite information, communication and demand, getting better organized and getting more stuff done, doesn’t help us get on top, it just makes us busier.
We need to take a lesson from corporate strategy here. Companies have been struggling to figure out how to succeed in highly competitive markets with limited resources for years. Their answer: do less, better. For example, Tim Cook described Apple as the most focused company he knew, because every day they say no to great ideas, in order to put enormous energy into the few they chose.
When we try to do everything, we achieve nothing.
TONY: When you work with companies, you help them focus on differentiation rather than improving productivity. Why that focus?
Michael Porter identified that productivity seldom leads to a sustained competitive advantage a couple of decades ago: It’s too easy to copy and match productive practices. However, I think there are additional reasons. For one, productivity is a solved problem. Since the mid 80s, the amount of information we’re all consuming has increased 5X. Over the same time period, the amount of content we’re all producing has increased 200X. Put those two numbers together and you realize most of our productivity is wasted.
This cuts to the heart of succeeding in an attention economy. Everyone’s attention is maxed out. So if you want to succeed, you have to do something that will still capture the attention of super-busy people. People notice difference, innovation and surprising. There is an opportunity cost to endless striving for productivity: when we’re too busy doing, we don’t have time to re-imagine, to create or to solve.
TONY: In talking about engagement, you address the role of values and purpose. What’s the difference?
I think too many leadership teams tie themselves up in knots trying to differentiate mission, vision, purpose and values. What I think is very useful are two things: an overall aim and a way of operating.
For some companies it makes the most sense that the ‘aim’ is framed as a goal, an end result (‘A PC on every desk’). For others, it’s much more useful to frame it as the problem or opportunity the business wants to address (‘Make the world’s information accessible’). I would describe a purpose as an aim. The organization’s values are more about a way of operating; the way we do things around here. Of course, the usefulness of values is that they are much more than rules of the game, they capture what the organization holds to be important in order to focus more behavior in those areas. A purpose can create energy; values encourage the right behavior, rather than the obvious or most expedient behavior.
The fact is, our attention is attracted to the most obvious activity, such as email or our to-do lists. However, these are seldom the really important things (even if they are necessary). Unless we make an active effort to bring our focus on what matters most, the obvious and unimportant will win.
TONY: Tell us about the triangle of busyness. What are one or two first steps organizations need to take if they are stuck because of busyness.
The triangle of busyness is a cycle where people commit themselves to work long and hard to achieve more success, money or status. In doing this they accept they will make sacrifices in what they hold most dear, this may be their values or their relationships. These sacrifices cause us to disconnect from what matters most, creating an increasing sense of emptiness in our lives. This feeling of emptiness is unpleasant, so we tell ourselves we’ll feel better if we push even harder for ‘more,’ or we drown out the emptiness with more busyness.
The first step, is not to try to be less busy, but to try and help people address their emptiness, identifying meaning. I am constantly amazed at how little attention people give to getting really clear on what matters most to them. We do all need to make sacrifices; we can’t have everything. However, it’s critical that our sacrifices are the right ones.
I worked with a senior leader in a global role. He had four children and had to travel a lot. This was a sacrifice. With his family he identified that there were certain events that were sacred to them: birthdays, anniversaries, first and last days of school, opening night of school play, etc. He made sure that, no matter what, he was always present for those. If organizations help people get really clear on what matters most to them, at work and in life; they will be better equipped to make sure their sacrifices don’t lead to emptiness. The next step is to equip managers to have more regular, and better conversations with people about their career and satisfaction, helping people to figure out creative ways of succeeding at work and at home.
I think a lot of churches are busy and getting busier. Is busy your strategy and approach to ministry? It’s time to rethink it.
