Variety Is The Spice Of Life (But The Death Of Efficiency)
Imagine what it would be like if every morning when you woke up, your memory had been blanked, and you had to learn everything you do all over again. How effective do you think you'd be? While you probably won't have to experience such total amnesia in your life, there is a very real possibility you are creating a form of this yourself, without being aware. It is another cause of Technology Misfit in organizations that must be guarded against.
Ho Hum...
A lot of us struggle with routine. We find it mundane. Boring. We want excitement and thrill. Surely there has to be a way to make work more like play! To alleviate the monotony, a lot of us try to build variety into our work. We start on one project, then shift to another. Every few minutes we access email or do a little surfing. We take what is known as a "mosaic" approach to our workflow.
There is nothing wrong with this, if it is done in a controlled manner. The problem is, for many of us as soon as the word control becomes associated with the word variety, the air seeps out of our balloon and we're back to perceiving what we're doing as "just work." How can you schedule variety? Doesn't it need to be spontaneous and adventuresome?
There is a challenging interplay between the ideas of variety and routine. Each of them can support or hinder the other.
The Power Of Routine
The power of routine is we gain momentum. If we constantly do things the same way, we cease to need to think as carefully about what we are doing. When we perform the same task over and over again, we become almost automated. Automation always breeds efficiency. This means Technology Fit. But if we switch from task to task in too short a timespan, the momentum is gone and we become like the person who wakes up each day with his memory cleared. We have to retrain our minds to whatever task we've switched to, and do the same thing again when we return to the task we left.
The same can be said for more creative work. Creativity comes from focus. Focus takes time to achieve. Depending on the complexity of the task, it can take between 10 and 30 minutes to successfully shift from a focus on one complex project to another. If we switch from project to project in too short a timespan, we cost ourselves vast amounts of time and mental energy in making the shift. This is why the more projects you assign your workers, the less efficient they become at accomplishing any of them. You will achieve greater Technology Fit if you allow your workers to work on less projects for greater lengths of time.
The Power Of Recreation
But as we saw above, routine also breeds monotony. And monotony leads to lethargy. We start to mentally drag when our work becomes so automated it no longer requires thought. We start to become bored when we remain focused too long on only one thing, no matter how much creativity that thing requires. We can also become physically less able, if we perform the same physical tasks without change. Our bodies begin to break down.
So the very thing that makes us efficient can begin to eat away at our efficiency. It is still quite true that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." I don't now who Jack was, and I don't know that this phrase was aimed at Technology Fit. The truth remains that none of us is really a machine, and when we treat ourselves as though we are, we are headed for a breakdown.
Plan Your Play And Play With Your Plan
We've seen that while too much variety can indeed be the death of efficiency, too much focus and routine will destroy efficiency just as fast. What we need to do if we hope to achieve Technology Fit within our organizations, is find the balance between the two. While it may be true the "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," it could also be said that "all play and no work will find Jack in the unemployment line."
We need to have a routine that allows us to play, and builds recreational breaks into the schedule. Then we need to discipline ourselves to stay focused when it's time to work. If we do this we will achieve a greater Technology Fit in our work lives.
Kel Good
MCT, MCITP, MCPD, MCSD for Microsoft.NET
Kel Good is a Microsoft Certified Trainer and Developer who specializes in consulting with business decision makers and managers regarding the
Technology Fit of their organizations.
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