“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” - Peter Drucker
A look into a quote from the man who wrote "The Effective Executive".
These quotes are generated thanks to Momentum Dash. It is a nifty tool that “is a personal dashboard designed to eliminate distraction and provide inspiration, focus, and productivity.”
Who is Peter Drucker?
He was an Austrian-born American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation. He was also a leader in the development of management education, he invented the concept known as management by objectives and self-control, and he has been described as "the founder of modern management".
In 1943 Brown invited him in to conduct what might be called a "political audit": a two-year social-scientific analysis of the corporation. Drucker attended every board meeting, interviewed employees, and analyzed production and decision-making processes.
The resulting book, Concept of the Corporation, popularized GM's multidivisional structure and led to numerous articles, consulting engagements, and additional books.
- From Wikipedia.
Why is this quote relevant?
Have you ever caught yourself researching on a topic in which you are already sufficiently knowledgeable? Are you meticulous in segregating such information, taking notes on them and sharing them? Do you spend a lot of time in zooming to 300% on that PPT slide to check if the top of one symbol is exactly in line with the next?
These are good examples of subconscious procrastination. To avoid starting or continuing a task, we take refuge in endless “research”. What Peter says is that this task, even if it is done efficiently, is a waste of time.
When did Peter Drucker say this?
In 1963 Peter Drucker published an article titled “Managing for Business Effectiveness” in the “Harvard Business Review”, and he discussed the troublesome error of misallocation. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI: 1
But every analysis of actual allocation of resources and efforts in business that I have ever seen or made showed clearly that the bulk of time, work, attention, and money first goes to “problems” rather than to opportunities, and, secondly, to areas where even extraordinarily successful performance will have minimal impact on results.
What is the major problem? It is fundamentally the confusion between effectiveness and efficiency that stands between doing the right things and doing things right. There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.
- From Quote Investigator.
One reason behind starting this newsletter was to understand why and when people said whatever they said. To that end, the quote in this post has its origins in this article that was published in HBR in 1963.
How to implement this?
To start with, stop multitasking. The human brain simply isn’t designed to focus on more than two things at a time. This video is an excellent example to demonstrate the problems with multitasking.
Further, this article from INC.com suggests the following ten steps:
Trim the fat:
If you make a list of tasks or subtasks, highlight the top 3 Most Important Tasks - MITs - and tackle them first.
Measure your results, not your time:
Instead of measuring how long you’ve been working on something, you can make a list of the tasks that have been completed.
Have an attitude adjustment:
Be good, do good, help always. Simple.
Communicate, communicate, communicate:
Keep communication short and to the point, whether written or verbal.
Create and stick to a routine:
This helps reduce the load on your brain. We make hundreds of decisions every day. These decisions—however big or small—take away the brain’s energy. Sticking to a routine prevents having to make these repetitive decisions. A routine, by definition, means that things are pre-decided.
Automate more tasks.
Especially the repetitive ones. Use Zapier. Create macros. Anything.
Stop multitasking.
Try preventing people from disturbing you too, if possible. Turn of phone notifications. Don’t look at emails each time a new one arrives.
Take advantage of your procrastination.
Turns out that there is some weight to that college-days joke after all—we are like rockets; we don’t move until our bottoms are on fire. Sometimes, when a deadline is approaching, things get done, somehow.
Relieve stress.
In the end, remember that whatever you are doing isn’t life-critical. Don’t make it one by stressing over it.
Do more of the work you enjoy.
I hope the two minutes it took you to read this was worth it. Let me know if it wasn’t.
If it was helpful to you, please share this with someone you think might find this helpful as well.
Is there something you disagree with? Or agree wholeheartedly? Feel free to roast me on Twitter. (Especially if it is about automation.)
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