A decision to not do something can be just as important as a decision to do something

All content copyrighted and may not be republished without permission.

Lee E. Meadows, PhD.

Professor of Management –Walsh College

Authored: Silent Conspiracy & Silent Suspicion

Knowing what to ignore is important

A decision to not do something can be just as important as a decision to do something. Judging by the amount of work that quickly finds its way into the cube of those who survived the last round of layoffs, it appears that ‘activity’ decisions are harder to make than ‘people’ decisions. As a number of professionals have shared with me in recent weeks, their work activities expand threefold with every one departure. “There are days when I feel like Larry, Moe and Curly. I’m doing the work of three people, but it’s crazy,” stated a Supply Chain Manager with a local Tier 1 company. “If I have to prioritize one more ‘hot item’, my desk is going to go up in flames,” was a comment made to me by a Manager with a local IT firm. Scaling down the organization to reach its competitive point represents an interesting exercise in decision making.

The end result for ‘survivors’ of this scaling down process is a momentary chance to exhale, wipe your brow and feel relieved at having made it through that round. However, the once balanced work life now teeters on the brink of dysfunctional task management and the evaluation of one’s internal career mobility is more than just delegating assignments.

Managers are supposed to manage people and the tasks they perform. It has become far too common a reality for supervisors, managers and directors to spend their time doing ‘things’ and managing ‘people’. The imbalance is not that the assigned tasks for completion that support organizational projects have grown in numbers, but the number of people who could complete these tasks have declined considerably.

Consequently, there is a ‘bloated belly’ of tasks growing on each manager’s tray. Though it gives the appearance of being full, what’s inside lacks any real substance.

So, the real trick is in knowing how to pull back the layers of a task to see if there’s anything really there. How many times have you looked at a task and asked yourself, “What is this all about?” “Who needs this done?” “Why am I doing this?” Often times, those are questions are asked not because there is an answer pending, but to ease the ascent into burnout. The truth of the matter is that as important as these questions might be, the ever looming larger question is one that, despite its perceived complexity, may have one simple answer. Careful examination of the increasing number of tasks should lead one to ask, “What would happen if this task remained undone?”

Here are some possible answers:

Someone would ask for it: More than likely out of habit than necessity. So, by asking that person why they need that task done, it clarifies, at least in your mind, its level of importance.

It falls farther down on the priority list: Much like that orange and red striped bean bag chair, there is a reluctance to get rid of anything that has been a part of the organizational landscape for several centuries. As it slips further from view, it becomes more of a sentimental task that only arouses the emotion in someone when it is about to be done in.

Nothing happens: The sad reality is that there are any number of tasks that have no longer have any importance to the organization. Their ultimate demise can be done without any fanfare or flair. You make a decision to stop doing the task unless you hear otherwise.

Sometimes the best career move you can make is to stop doing things that the organization no longer needs and put more focused time and energy in the things that it does need.