Quality vs. Quantity

Which of the two circus performances most appeal to you:

• A fast-paced performance of many smaller acts. They start quickly, get to the point and then are gone almost as quickly. Your mind races to keep up with all that you are experiencing-and is exhausted after the show.
• A moderately-paced performance that has fewer acts, but that are of significant length and complexity. Your mind is able to evaluate, analyze and reflect on each performance, and the skills of the performers in them. You are still mentally exhausted after the show, but leave with a feeling that you have experienced something meaningful.

The answer, for most of us, is the second performance. Strangely enough, though, we carry out our work days more like the first one. We dart from ring to ring, performing a quick task, and then jumping from that ring to another just long enough to do something else. Quality takes a back seat to sheer quantity.

Imagine your work day more like the second performance. You take more time to strategically plan each task. You aren't as concerned about gettting everything done as much as you are focused on accomplishing the right things. Quality is your main concern.

This dynamic tension of quality vs. quantity is critical for leaders or managers to grasp as well. People can be extremely busy (quantity) but are they really productive (quality)? And if you don't know the answer to that question, it may be time for you to spend a little more time thinking about your role as ringmaster of your department, team or organization.

Satisfy The Audience In Your Head

As a member of an audience you don't like to wait, do you? The longer you have to wait, the more anxious you get about the start of the performance.

You have an audience inside your head-it is called the pituitary gland and hypothalamus. They are waiting to send out cheers called endorphins when you accomplish something of value to you. The longer you wait to perform a difficult task, the longer you deny the audience the chance to give you much needed applause.

For that reason, consider accomplishing the task you are most dreading earlier in the day. That way, you have this audience clapping and cheering you on all day long.

Clear The Ring!

You go to a circus and when each act is over, something used in the act is left behind. Mid-way through the circus performance they would have to stop the action to clean out the stuff lying around in the wing.

We do something very similar when we leave read emails in our inbox. Each time we go to manage our inbox, a portion of our focus or attention is always drawn back to those emails sitting idly by. We mentally trip over them while trying to really focus on our new acts.

Why not create some rules for incoming emails or better yet, create some rules for what you do with an email once you read it? An old acronym to guide management of pieces of paper still works for handling email. It is:

T-Trash

R-Refer

A-Act

F-File

Remember, the goal is to have your mental "ring" clear to be able to focus on the act at hand-and not trip over it.

The Choice Is Not "Either-Or"

Near the beginning of a training program on Juggling Elephants, we have participants identify some of their current "elephants." Inevitably, someone will ask, "Should I focus on work or personal?" Our quick answer is "YES!"

Rarely are our struggles to get things done isolated solely to one area of our life. The most immediate "heavy item" might be work-related, but most of the time there are 2 or 3 non-work items vying for our physical, mental and emotional energy. And a struggle in one area often affects our performance in another area.

Our focus in determining where our circus needs work should not be limited to looking at only one ring. Remember, a quality circus has acts in all 3 rings.

Working Mom Ringmasters

Not long after Juggling Elephants was published, we had a reviewer of the book comment that they would add a 4th ring to their circus-their home. She went on to explain that while she had the standard 3 rings of work/self/relationships, she also had the passion to insure that her home was a warm and inviting place for her family. Her sentiments are echoed by many "working moms" in our society today.

Salary.com had a recent article where they offered 12 strategies for working moms. While the tips are timeless, the writer (Heather Dugan) does a marvelous job of connecting to the specific situations faced by working (outside the home) mothers.

Read the tips by clicking here.