Last week I shared the story of the planning that my friends Richard and Senomi did in preparation for their move to Somerset West. It was a job well done and brought a lot of clarity. Today I want to share some more thoughts on “clarity”… and to confirm the idiom “the devil is in the details”, which means that mistakes are usually made in the small details of a project. Usually it is a caution to pay attention to avoid failure.
Well, the removal van finally arrived at the entrance to the estate where they have decided to move to – only to find out that it would not be allowed to enter the estate! It is too big and will “take out” things next to the road and also would not be able to navigate the circle without doing damage.
So a smaller vehicle that could shuttle safely between the entrance and their new home had to be arranged and after many more hours and shuttles the job was finally done.
The first question Richard had to answer when arranging the move was if the vehicle would have free access to the destination. Having seen the area, he said “yes” – which was incorrect.
Two productivity principles are in play in this situation, and the frustrating last kilometre of the move could have been avoided if they had been applied:
- Slow down to speed up
- Clarify up front
You will enjoy this popular video clip (42 seconds) of a guy coming out of his house in the morning after a heavy snowfall, and starts cleaning his car. When the job is done he presses the button to open the car doors, only to see another car’s lights flash! He spent all the time and energy cleaning the wrong car. What should he have done? Clarify up front! First press the button and then start working.
At the end of your work day, do you sometimes feel that you have bee very busy but don’t have much to show for it? Maybe you have been “cleaning other people’s cars” by saying “yes” to work that is not yours (clarify!) and in your eagerness to be a good team player accepted tasks that someone else could have done? You nee do to slow down a bit and clarify whether the work will move you closer towards achieving YOUR priorities, not someone else’s.
Has anyone ever delegated work to you, and on the assumption that you know exactly what to do, you started off with a bang, only to find a little later that you are not actually clear about what to do? Slow down and clarify: “I understand you want me to do ABC – is that correct?” It may be accurate or the other person might clarify further.
Or have you delegated work to someone, only to find that they did not do exactly what they were supposed to be doing? Slow down and clarify by asking the other person to explain to you their understanding of what they must do.
Does it take time to press “pause” before digging in? Yes.
Can it save you from wasting time and energy on “cleaning the wrong cars”? You bet.
Press “Pause” before you press “Play”.
Quote: “Mystification is simple; clarity is the hardest thing of all.” ― Julian Barnes, Flaubert’s Parrot
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