PRINCIPLE OF PERSONAL MANAGEMENT
The power of independent will
In addition to self-awareness, imagination and conscience, it is the fourth human endowment that really makes effective self-management possible. It is the ability to make decisions and choices and to act in accordance with them. Effective management is putting first things first. While leadership decides what “first things” are, it is management that puts them first, day-by-day, moment-by-moment. Management is discipline carrying it out.
Four generation of time management
The first generation could be characterized by notes and checklists, an effort to give some semblance of recognition and inclusiveness to the many demands placed on our time and energy. The second generation could be characterized by calendars and appointment books. This wave reflects an attempt to look ahead, to schedule events and activities in the future. The third generation reflects the current time management field. It adds to those preceding generations the important idea of prioritization and of comparing the relative worth of activities based on their relationship to those values. The fourth generation is different in kind. It recognizes that “time management” is really a misnomer – the challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves.
Quadrant Two
There are two factors that define an activity – urgent and important. A ringing phone is urgent. Most people can’t stand the thought of just allowing the phone to ring. Urgent matters are usually visible. They press on us; they insist on action. Often, they are pleasant, easy, fun to do. But so often they are unimportant! Important, on the other hand, has to do with results. If something is important, it contributes to your mission, your vision, your values, your high priority goals. Effective people stay out of Quadrant three and four because, urgent or not, they aren’t important. They also shrink Quadrant one down to size by spending more time in Quadrant two.
What it takes to say “NO”
The only place to get time for Quadrant two in the beginning is from Quadrant three and four. You can’t ignore the urgent and important activities, although it will shrink in size as you spend more time with prevention and preparation in Quadrant two. But the initial time for Quadrant two has to come out of three and four.
Moving into Quadrant two
The first generation of time management does not even recognize the concept of priority. It gives us notes and “to do lists” that we can cross off, and we feel a temporary sense of accomplishment every time we check something off, but no priority is attached to items on list. Second generation managers assume a little more control. They plan and schedule in advance and generally are seen as more responsible because they “show up” when they’re supposed to. But, the activities they. Schedule have no priority correlation to deeper values and goals. Third generation manager take a significant step forward. They clarify their values and set goals. They plan each day and prioritize their events.
The Quadrant two tool
The objective of Quadrant two management is to manage our lives effectively – from a center of sound principles, from a knowledge of our personal mission, with a focus on the important as well as the urgent, and within the framework of maintaining a balance between increasing our production and our production capacity.
Living it
The popularity of reacting to the urgent but unimportant priorities of other people in Quadrant three or the pleasure of escaping to Quadrant four will threaten to overpower the important Quadrant two activities you have planned. As carefully as you organize the week, there will be times when, as a principle-centered person, you will need to subordinate your schedule to a higher value.
Advances of the fourth generation
One of the reasons why people resist using third-generation time management tools is because they lose spontaneity; they become rigid and inflexible. They subordinate people to schedules because the efficiency paradigm of the third generation of management is out of harmony with the principle that people are more important than things. The fourth generation of self-management is more advance than the third in five important ways:
First, it’s principle-centered.
Second, it’s conscience-directed
Third, it defines your unique mission, including values and long-term goals.
Fourth, it helps you balance your life by identifying roles
Fifth, it gives greater context through weekly organizing
Delegation: Increasing P and PC
If we delegate to time, we think efficiency. If we delegate to other people, we think effectiveness. Many people refuse to delegate to other people because they feel it takes too much time and efforts and they could do the job better themselves. But effectively delegating to others is the single most powerful high-leverage activity. A producer can invest one hour of efforts and produce one unit of results, assuming no loss of efficiency. A manager on the other hand, can invest one hour and produce ten to fifty units through effective delegation.
Gofer Delegation
There are basically two kinds of delegation: “gofer delegation” and “stewardship delegation”. Gofer delegation means “Go for this, go for that, do this, do that, and tell me when it’s done.” Most people who are producers have a gofer delegation paradigm.
Stewardship Delegation
Stewardship delegation is focused on results instead of methods. It gives people a choice of method and makes them responsible for results. It takes more time in the beginning, but it’s time well invested. Stewardship delegation involves clear, up-front mutual understanding and commitment regarding expectations in five areas: Desired results, Guidelines, Resources, Accountability, Consequences.
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