[Continuing our series “ABCs for Managers…”]
A formula to know “Everything Important”
Everything = Things you Know + Things you do not Know
= (Things you Know + Things you think you Know) + Things you do not Know
= (Things you Know + Things you think you Know) + (Things you need to Know + Things you need not Know)
= (Things you Know + Things you think you Know) + (Things you need to Know + Things you do not need but want to Know + Things you do not need neither want to Know) → (A.)
Now,
- “Things you do not need neither want to Know” = 0 (Zero) → (B.)
- “Things you do not need but want to know” = amateur at best or distraction at worst
- Average (Best(Amateur), Worst(Distraction)) = Hobby (C.)
Replacing (B.) & (C.) in (A.),
Everything = (Things you Know + Things you think you Know) + (Things you need to Know + Hobby + 0)
Everything — Hobby = Things you Know + Things you think you Know + Things you need to Know = Everything Important → (D.)
Analysing individual components of (D.):
1. “Hobby”
Enjoy your hobby, imbibe lessons from it but do not try to become a professional in it. Either throw away that undusted guitar lying in your closet for years or use it. Run the next marathon or train for Ironman.
But remember to remain a hobbyist.
2. “Things you Need to Know”:
Identify this list, now pare it down ruthlessly. Retain the top One. One ensures you will focus on the most important. One ensures you will try to learn it as quickly as possible if number Two in the list is a pressing issue as well. Revisit list every quarter.
If your list changes too soon, you are either not describing or not identifying One very well. Or you are a gopher.
3. “Things You Know / Things you Think You Know”:
Ensure these are validated by correct data and are not influenced by cognitive biases. If these are influenced or you are still not clear, an opinion need not be formed yet. These two areas feed off each other and instead of increasing, may actually decrease as your awareness increases. That is a good sign of your learning muscle really getting exercised.
Always wear an exploration hat, use the conclusion hat sparingly
4. “Things You Know”:
This is what you are getting paid for. This list needs to align with the list of an organization’s needs. Or the organization decides who to align with. Implication being, this is where the maximum time needs to be spent.
Keep the volume of this small but keep it deep.
5. “Things you Think You Know”:
How you react when these are questioned or challenged will determine how you perform in a team, across teams and as a manager. Find areas which you can/should absorb, leave the rest to other professionals in the team.
Check your reactions when challenged
Know has a huge impact of how teams function. Teams have a huge impact on how organizations function. Let us look at the formula again:
Things you Know + Things you think you Know + Things you need to Know = Everything Important
- When a team forms, the area of Everything Important should increase. This increase is rarely in proportion to the people added.
- For disproportionate increase, team cohesion needs to be high
- For team cohesion to be high, dissonance in Things you think you Know needs to be handled well.
This post has 674 words.
There are over 2,000,000 blog posts written today.
The entire Wikipedia currently has over 40,000,000 articles.
A part of Internet is currently estimated at 4,510,000,000 pages.
While digesting all that in your latest mobile device, you have forgotten your car keys.
There is a lot of information. There is a lot of important information. And it takes very little to know it all.
Things you Know + Things you think you Know + Things you need to Know = Everything Important
