Begin with the end in mind
This is Habit #2 in Steven Covey's "The 7 habits of highly effective people". To put it simply, know what is the objective when you start out on doing something.
Thus when companies begin to get their people to specialise and group common jobs together into a shared services department, do these people know why they do certain things a certain way and how what they do is going to affect the overall objective of the company? In recent encounters, I have had colleagues telling me that they cannot do things differently because the guidance says otherwise. While I can appreciate the need to follow guidance and instructions to ensure that there is no compromise on business control, that should not prevent people from thinking and do what is reasonable and right . I have blogged about this here.
An example of doing without knowing the objective was related by my pastor today. A mayor was on his round and he saw 2 city workers along a road. The first was digging holes along the road, while the second person was filling it up after him. The mayor was puzzled and so stopped to ask the 2 workers why they are doing that. The 2 explained that there are actually 3 of them in the work group. One to dig, the other to plant the tree while the third will fill up the hole after the tree is planted. However, the person who is supposed to plant the tree called in sick. But it's ok, we are here working as usual.
As we get people to specialise or to focus on one particular aspect of a job, we must have people who will be able to continue to see the bigger picture, "generalists" who understands how each portion of a process are affected by what each of the folks do. This reminds me of an anecdote about specialists.
When I first started working, I am a generalist. I know a little of everything. Then I began to specialise, which is to know more about smaller areas. As I specialise more, I began to know more and more about less and less. Ultimately, I know everything about nothing.
Begin with the end in mind.
Thus when companies begin to get their people to specialise and group common jobs together into a shared services department, do these people know why they do certain things a certain way and how what they do is going to affect the overall objective of the company? In recent encounters, I have had colleagues telling me that they cannot do things differently because the guidance says otherwise. While I can appreciate the need to follow guidance and instructions to ensure that there is no compromise on business control, that should not prevent people from thinking and do what is reasonable and right . I have blogged about this here.
An example of doing without knowing the objective was related by my pastor today. A mayor was on his round and he saw 2 city workers along a road. The first was digging holes along the road, while the second person was filling it up after him. The mayor was puzzled and so stopped to ask the 2 workers why they are doing that. The 2 explained that there are actually 3 of them in the work group. One to dig, the other to plant the tree while the third will fill up the hole after the tree is planted. However, the person who is supposed to plant the tree called in sick. But it's ok, we are here working as usual.
As we get people to specialise or to focus on one particular aspect of a job, we must have people who will be able to continue to see the bigger picture, "generalists" who understands how each portion of a process are affected by what each of the folks do. This reminds me of an anecdote about specialists.
When I first started working, I am a generalist. I know a little of everything. Then I began to specialise, which is to know more about smaller areas. As I specialise more, I began to know more and more about less and less. Ultimately, I know everything about nothing.
Begin with the end in mind.
posted by Guy in the glass at 1:55 PM
1 Comments:
Well, unfortunately, there are more and more such people around, at least in my company. And the saddest part is these people somehow get highly recognised, highly ranked, and highly appreciated. They get to go yearly company recognition event, awards, etc....cos they are the "SPECIALIST"... they have the skills that the management "think" it is inimitable... it is sad, but true!
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