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Career Tips - Issue # 5 (Nov. 2004) FREE bimonthly newsletter dedicated to your career development. It will take about 10 minutes to read this newsletter. This investment will pay off if you read up to the end. Bill Gates escaped but Ken Olsen couldn't "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." "640K ought to be enough for anybody." What's common between the two statements? Both were grossly wrong predictions! Indeed, most of us have a computer at home--with a memory in gigabytes. The person who made the first statement, Ken Olsen (former President of Digital Equipment Corporation), paid a heavy price for his misjudgement. His company folded up and he has vanished from the scene. The man who made the second statement went on to make at least one more grave misjudgement but has not only survived but thrived. He is Bill Gates. What made one person survive and the other crash, despite both having poor judgment about the future. According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, the reason was different levels of "self-importance." Both thought "I'm right" but one of them was open to be challenged and flexible enough to change the course as required. Ken Olsen, the founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), is credited with turning DEC into a computer giant which was once the main rival of IBM. The only problem with DEC's success was dependency on Ken's judgment. If Ken decided something, everyone agreed. As a result, when he shunned the personal computer market, no one challenged him until it was too late. And unfortunately for him and DEC, this single decision was the beginning of the end of his company. In contrast, Bill Gates, who too made a grave error of initially keeping Microsoft out of the Internet game, escaped similar fate. Why? He didn't suffer so much from the "I'm always right" problem. After watching the rapidly changing computer industry and listening carefully to colleagues, Gates changed his mind, took a U-turn and brought Microsoft right at the centre of the Internet universe. >>CAREER TIP: Send a clear message to your subordinates and colleagues that you are open to be challenged for your views, beliefs and decisions. Encourage them to bring alternative views to the table without any fear. Pay extra attention when someone disagrees with you. Also, don't hesitate to challenge your boss whenever you feel like. As Gates' case shows, smartness lies not in thinking "I'm always right" but in remembering "right could be wrong and wrong could be right." Don't let it slip away! This is a problem which leaves no one untouched. It makes people work late everyday, on weekends, at home, and even during vacation. Because of it, some people get so stressed that they end up seeing doctors and therapists. Lack of time! How to manage time? One solution could be to attend a seminar or read a book on time management. But for that too, you would need time! May be, it is time you tried the following approach suggested by Peter Drucker: - Step 1: Record Where does your time go? You may think you know the answer to this question but most likely you don't. If you don't believe it, simply record how you spend time for the next two weeks. A surprise is in store for you! - Step 2: Question After recording, review all the activities which consume your time and ask the following two questions: 1. What are those activities which can be eliminated completely without any adverse impact. For example, you may be attending meetings which you don't need to. Perhaps, some documents cross your table unnecessarily. Simply stop involving in all such activities/matters. 2. What are those activities which can be done by others? Delegate these! After the purge, you will be left with what you are really supposed to do. - Step 3: Consolidate The last step is to consolidate the available time and use it in largest possible chunks. If you notice, nothing important is achieved in minutes. You can't write an important report which requires 4 hours by working on it in 16 instalment of 15 minutes each. >>CAREER TIP: The key is not to attempt to do "more" or "faster" but to do what is really "necessary." And also, time is best utilised in big chunks. Time is perishable and can't be stored. Once gone, it's gone for ever. So don't let it slip away without making a good use of it. The time you've just spent reading this newsletter is gone, too. But if you find the ideas mentioned above useful, please do act on them. That will give you a decent return on your investment. Will be back after two weeks. Atul Mathur FORWARD IT: Would you like to share what you've just read with any of your friends? Click below to send a link to your friends. To SUBSCRIBE to this newsletter, send a blank e-mail to:subscribe Career Tips ***Copyright 2004 Atul Mathur*** |
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