Especially for SME’s – 53: How to prioritize tasks and problems for attack--summary.
17 August 2022
SME 3: Very interesting! Can we sum up what we have covered in the selection process for narrowing down i.e., for reducing a in the equation for p=f/a?
Mr. Lowe: It is a good time to sum up. To make a pin out of a cylinder, to come down to just one problem or task to focus on from the total area of SS, we had made the following key points:
Just do one at a time one after the other.
Remember job completion and not 99% completion should be your goal.
Focus on the end-result accomplishment and not on the means.
Do not take up even priority 2 jobs unless you complete priority 1 job, unless of course a factor outside your control stops you from progressing on priority 1 job.
Give priority to jobs that take less time to completion compared to those that take more time.
Give higher priority to jobs of yours that you have to complete before others can start their jobs. In other words do not keep others waiting for you.
Give that job a higher priority which you feel will mentally relieved you once that job is over.
Give higher priority to those jobs that the Super system for the role you are in, need you to do. Give less priority to the supplier or subsystems, including you, except those occasions when, unless you sort out the problems faced by the subsystem, you cannot solve the problem your Super system is facing.
Within the Super systems for a role choose just the one that is most independent -SS1 and not even SS2.
Even within that chosen Supersystem, for giving unconditional + to the Super system, give priority to the most burning current problem, the most felt current need, the maximum shortage factor or the most sensitive point – we can call this as the bottleneck problem or task- within the Super System. This is the one problem or task that deserves your highest priority and the highest attention, effort and resources, as this is the point of highest returns for you also.
Make sure you are not the Super system for any role done by you, as the returns to you from giving unconditional plus to the correct Supersystem for the role will be much more than what you can get by considering yourself as the SS and doing the role.
SME 1: Excellent: We have to change a lot of current habits! So what you are telling us is just solve the bottleneck of SS1 i.e., the most burning current problem, the most felt current need, the maximum shortage factor or the most sensitive point of the external customer in the official role and family in the personal role and not anything else, which is a waste of time or sub-optimal, under-utilization of time.
Mr. Lowe: That is a great summary of the summary. ………………………. Contd.