I learned it while reading Stephen Covey – the 7 habits of highly effective people – the huge meaning of IMPORTANT, NOT URGENT.
He classified our tasks (and thoughts) into four quarters, according to importance and urgency.
The world makes us do what is urgent. Only discipline and a clear vision of priorities can make us productive in those things that are not urgent – even while they are very important.
To stop smoking, losing weight, scheduling check-ups - are examples of very important things which can always be left to be done later. And then we don't do them at all.
The concept is made very clear through a story told by Covey.
A speaker talking about TIME USE puts a bucket on the table, with big stones next to it, and asks the audience how many stones fit inside the bucket.
After hearing some guesses, he puts the stones inside the bucket and everybody sees that 22 stones fit in the bucket.
He asks if it is possible to put one more and the audience answers that it's not. He picks up a box of gravel, that was under the table, hidden from the audience, and fills the bucket with gravel up to the top.
And then asks the audience: Can I put something else inside? Now, everybody says yes;
The speaker fills the bucket with sand and asks again, and then fills the bucket with water, asks again if it is possible to put something else inside it. Everybody agrees that it is not possible.
And then comes the main question: which lesson do you take from this experience, considering that we're talking about TIME USE?
Many participants say things like “you can always add something”.
The correct, impactful answer is... if we hadn't put the big stones first, they would not fit inside the bucket.
In conclusion, if we really want to fill part of our time with what is important, not urgent, it's necessary to place it first in our planning.
Before we add the gravel and sand that fill up all our available moments...
Action Plan, KPI Management, Strategy Execution
Interesting read, thanks Claus. I do love a good analogy!
ReplyDeleteThis is another important lesson its often forgotten by so many. What I usually find are important things that people say has to be done every time or at any time or 'it has to be always updated'...what it actually happens is that these thing get never done. If the big stones are not in the bucket in the first place, they never get done!
ReplyDeleteNice one! I love his analogy and often use it with my coaching clients. Thank you for reminding us.
ReplyDeleteSusanne Madsen
http://www.susannemadsen.com