Re: Time management

Hi Dale,

> Hi Bill,
>
> > > No, I mean you.  You can say, as early as you know, "I'm not going
> > > to meet this obligation."  That gives the people to whom you made
> > > the obligation the best chance to find someone else to do those
> > > things.
> >
> > I could, but that's not the way I operate.  It's my responsibilty to
> > find out as much as I need to before making the committment.  Once
> > made, it's made and I do whatever it takes to meet that committment.
>
> Suppose you committed to deliver something to your boss at 10am, and
> you're driving to work at 9am to deliver it.  Now suppose you see a
> woman lying by the side of the road, bleeding.  Do you stop to help?
> Or do you meet your commitment?

I stop to help.  Wow.  Looking to see if I have limits I guess.

> > Best case, no issues would come up that I needed to handle and
> > things would be running no worse than when I left.  But sometimes
> > issues that I'm best suited to handle do come up, and, because I'm
> > gone, the situation gets worse until I get back to handle them.  A
> > lot of it has to do with relationships rather than knowledge.
>
> So one way to mitigate that (but probably not eliminate it) is to do
> whatever it takes to build your staff's capabilities in those areas.
> To me, that's one of the primary jobs of the manager.  Maybe *the*
> primary job.

Agreed.  I do this, too.  My first obligation to both the company and
myself, I believe, is to identify and train my replacement.

> Can you see XP, or XP's principles, helping with that?

Yes.

> > > > > If that is predictable, why don't we plan for it, and schedule
> > > > > fewer conflicting responsibilities?
> > > >
> > > > Good question.  Perhaps it's as simple as we don't know how to
> > > > do that yet.
> > >
> > > I think it's simpler:  If you'll work the hours, the organization
> > > sees no reason to reduce your workload.
> >
> > I think it's more about money.  The fewer people you can employ to
> > do the same amount of work, the higher your profit margins.  The
> > better your profit margins, the better your competitive position in
> > the capital markets, the more money you can hold in reserve for hard
> > times, etc., etc., etc.
>
> Yes, that's more or less what I was getting at.  That's the
> organization's motivation.  I don't know how to do much about that.
> So I'll turn to your motivation.
>
> For what reasons do you repeatedly make commitments that you can meet
> only by sacrificing yourself and your time with your family?

Actually, I've stopped doing that.  That's a big part of why I left
employment in that world and became a consultant / contractor to them.

> Can you see XP, or XP's principles, helping with that?

I'm hopeful, but not as much on this point as I am on the one above.

Best regards,
Bill


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