Not Why, but How You Are Busy

By Ross Robinson

“The Magic Sounds from Austin”

Why Are You So Busy

“It’s not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy.  The bee is praised, the mosquito is swatted.” – Mary O’Connor

Often the teams we manage and lead feel good because they are busy (the mosquito).  However, the key to accomplishing your company strategy is being busy on tasks that help achieve those goals (the bee).  If you look at your actions and realize they are “mosquitos”, you may need to consciously neglect them and focus on the “bee” actions that will get you closer to your strategy.  This is easier said than done but with a clear strategy and proper coaching you can turn your team into busy bees accomplishing quicker and better results.

Conscious neglect is often required to chip away all the to do’s, down to the actions that produce the most impacting results.  Challenge your team every day to ask themselves if what they are working on is essential to accomplishing the strategy.  If it is not, identify what is and work on that first.