HOMAGE du DRUCKER
Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019
I recall, many years ago, reading the wisdom of Peter Drucker, when some of his many wise words and concepts took root inside my brain, and some have come back to life recently to help me re-order some of my priorities.
Two things he wrote about stuck out and remain stuck in my mind:
1 ….. about Canadians, watching while Americans do all kinds of crazy things, then picking up the ones worth copying
2 ….. “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
Part of my 2020 planning and 2019 purging process has been to look at a lot of things I do, want to do, plan to do, and might do if I only had the time – is to examine them through that Drucker lens of whether they ought to be done at all, and if so, should they be done by me?
When we clear our agenda, we are smart to leave room for three things:
- Leisure, rest, personal-care for body and brain
- Time for surprises – so we are open, open-minded, and keep an open door for things we want to imagine, dream, and hope for
- Time for other surprises; not the happy ones, but the inevitable ones which happen in both our personal and business lives – they are unavoidable, they are surprises, and we need to have dexterity and coping skills to make sure these events when they happen, don’t derail our plan, our lives, and our the value of what we are doing
Saving time in itself is neither a strategy nor goal; instead, it is clearing the calendar, the page, and opening up opportunities to do other things. Having fewer issues or items on our plate looks, on its face, life efficiency, but it’s just ‘fewer.’ If those aren’t activities or interests in furtherance of goals, directions, and values we are clear on, we likely won’t achieve outcomes we are thrilled about.
Reader feedback:
My Favourite Day is Friday the 13th. Everything good happens on these days. Enjoy the Day, Look for the Blessings and have a great weekend!, MJ, Calgary, AB
