Clear Space to Do Less, But Better

We are so focused on producing and getting things done. Sometimes the best way to do that, is to slow down and do less.

(Adapted and reprinted from Harry Webne-Behrman, What Matters in This Moment, 2021)

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” — Mary Oliver (1992)

Much of our energy, to be sure, is devoted to getting things done. But we also require time to NOT get things done at all, and to focus on improving our Relationships and Connectedness with others. While this can be reduced to a set of trivial “icebreakers” and team building exercises, I want to reconsider this in service to our greater focus on What Matters. “Decluttering” has attained special status in recent years with the Netflix popularity of Marie Kondo. But the concept goes far beyond strategies for reducing the clutter of our homes; indeed, it relates to a philosophy of life. In What Matters At Work (2020), I discussed the contributions of Greg McKeown in his book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (2014). I summarized his three key principles:

• Do Less, But Better

• Be Committed to the Rigorous Pursuit of Less

• Focus on the Essential

“Do less, but better” is central to our thinking here. McKeown offers a number of exercises that support this sifting and winnowing, allowing us to focus on those things that we can do really well, all in service to the greater needs (and demands, in many cases) of our customers. This is quite difficult for us to do as individuals, but it poses a special challenge for groups: As we engage in our project teams and task forces in their work, we need to take an approach that helps them focus with clarity, so they might “do less, better,” “rigorously pursue less,” and “focus on the essential.”

How? We reflected Time, and I offered three types of Time to consider:

REFLECT → CONNECT → SYNTHESIZE

After further consideration, I’ve added another category here: PROTOTYPE. Some of our time needs to be dedicated to experimenting, trying out new ideas to see what sticks, noticing what might be discarded and improved upon, etc. We then SYNTHESIZE what we have learned until we are ready to PRODUCE, which seems to be the primary focus of most workplaces. In sequence, they often appear in this order:

REFLECT → CONNECT → PROTOTYPE → SYNTHESIZE → PRODUCE

There might be multiple “loops” of Reflect → Connect → Prototype required before Synthesis can occur. It’s important to defer judgment and the urge to Produce prematurely; as we well know, too many organizations move ideas into production without thoroughly synthesizing all data and risk factors. Indeed, it is a perverse source of pride among many leaders that they “Ready → Fire → Aim” their initiatives, rather than experience the paralysis of over-analysis; while there are fair points in this critique, we are far better served by deliberate, intentional Synthesis.

I have further thoughts about the special roles of times to REFLECT and CONNECT in our workplaces. Here’s a story to illustrate:

I met with a colleague to discuss an important initiative that was stalled. We were from different units in the same overall Division, each with distinct roles in the organization. I entered the discussion knowing that I was frustrated with this pace, yet I also appreciated that she was working on many different projects and had limited time. I knew I had this pair of conflicting feelings, and it made me curious: What’s going on for her? (Reflect). As we sat down, we first “checked in” at a personal level (Connect), as it had been several weeks since we had met together outside of large group meetings. We explored the workloads we were each facing, but also discussed her daughter’s growing interest in the arts, an area we share as parents. She also discussed some other family stressors, and I shared a bit about my emerging plan to move to Canada, things that had been bottled up as “undiscussables” at work.

After about 15 minutes, we were ready to take a deep breath and refocus on the initial purpose of the meeting. The personal connection reminded us of our history and friendship, which then made it easier to return to the primary concerns of the meeting and the stalled project: We spoke frankly about how neither of us were excited about the project at this point, though we felt it was important to make it work well. She was feeling overwhelmed, unsure how to get some elements of the project moving more efficiently. We discussed a few of the challenges and options, then agreed that we could each sketch out two ideas that might work and share them by email before seeing which seemed most promising (Prototype). I also clarified that another project she was working on with one of my staff could be deferred for a week while we addressed these issues; I’d talk with him about it. She felt relieved. I felt relieved. We had a plan and got things moving again.

After returning to my office, I sent a follow-up email that summarized our intended actions and agreements (Synthesize → Produce). I didn’t enter that conversation with any anticipation or expectation of learning more about my colleague’s life or for her to learn more about mine. I thought we were discussing our project, and ultimately we did make significant progress on the work at hand. However, because we took the time to connect with one another as complex human beings dealing with difficult work challenges, we expressed genuine empathy with one another and offered validity to each other’s concerns and stress. We were able to find ways to offer one another supportive resources to get out from under the “rocks” that were weighing us down. As a result, necessary energy was released for an important project (one that excited neither of us), and the tasks at hand could be completed.

Work teams experience this all the time. They often feel overwhelmed, and the energy drains from the members. People start avoiding the work or the “difficult conversations” it requires. Eventually, the usual response is, “Suck it up and get ‘er done!” Paradoxically, this way causes more stress and burnout, so when the tasks are accomplished, they are often not accompanied by any sense of celebration. This isn’t about avoiding work: This is about respecting one another’s Humanity by taking a few minutes to NOT GET ANYTHING DONE, only to acknowledge one another. By taking this moment to Do Nothing, we actually free ourselves to get recharged and return to work with clearer focus and a greater sense of resolve.

Leaders need to model and facilitate opportunities for reflection, to pause and refocus on What Matters. This is especially important when facing the urgency of a disrupted time, such as during the Covid pandemic and our transition to the current period of recovery.

Take Time to Do Less, Better

Under what circumstances should leaders facilitate such Time? How might we do it? Here are a few simple ideas to get us started: Set aside “unstructured time” each week: Google is famous for its “20% rule,” where many of its staff were free to use one day each week as they wished, rather than in accordance with management directives or customer requirements. Out of this approach, which Google employed for over 13 years, a “best practice” emerged that is connected to higher productivity, innovation, and workplace engagement. While it had its critiques, it has been noteworthy as an innovation. Autonomy is a key to success: If we take the idea that all staff have time each week that they independently determine, they will likely recharge, reflect, experiment, connect, prototype, product - all of these types of Time we are noting here.

Invite others for “cups of coffee” to strengthen relationships: In previous leadership roles, I’ve created times for “Coffees with Harry” or something similar, where employees were invited to come and chat with me about whatever they wanted to discuss. I’ve also advocated for such approaches with other leaders towards similar outcomes. This was a simple way for me to get to know people less formally and to better understand how they saw their jobs (and mine). Over time, people came to trust the integrity of the Coffees, and if suggested actions arose, I would support their expression in the meetings where they would be properly discussed. People benefitted from one another’s views, and another dividend emerged:

Staff across the organization would meet one another without constraints of hierarchy or bureaucracy, leading to a unique cross-pollination of ideas. As a leader, I was validating the idea that doing “nothing” could actually be productive by recognizing these other forms of productivity. A warning: In some organizations, such an approach can breed cliques and political opportunism, where the leadership coffees become ways to advance personal and political agendas outside the transparency of official meetings. Be clear about their purpose, stop cliquish tendencies before they take root, and redirect any formal change proposals to the spaces where they are usually addressed.

Sponsor innovative approaches to professional development: We tend to see similar opportunities for staff education - webinars, conferences, in-person workshops. These may include breakout sessions, but they are primarily passive ingestion of SME wisdom. By considering Time in creative ways, we can also contemplate creative approaches to professional education that focus on relationship-building and divergent thinking simultaneously with impressive results, such as this example:

UW-MANIAC (Madison Area Network for Innovation and Collaboration) sponsored a series of “Learning Cafés”, events at which participants experienced high-energy creative problem-solving strategies. One such event was “Kindergarten for Adults,” which adapted Frederich Froebel’s original concept as a way to explore the opportunities, disciplines, and assumptions of various work environments. There were offices, art spaces, laboratories, and production facilitators, all of which served this core purpose. But there was also Story Time, a Meditation Space, and Recess (with hula hoops!), all of which invited and encouraged participants to stop working and to play for 10 minutes, with no expectation of “productivity.” The results were amazing, as the different types of spaces complemented one another and participants emerged with insights they could take back and apply, as well as new relationships that came from this playful foundation. In the years that followed, the lessons of this one learning event had significant impacts that far eclipsed any financial investment that was required.

Foster “Play” as a complement to “Work”: Play has been studied scientifically with powerful results, as it fosters development of problem solving, cooperation, project management, and other skills in children’s learning. These skills are further enhanced by promoting play in adults, often through social clubs, company sports teams, and the like. But it can also be a simple commitment to allow space for staff to identify their own, less formal, ways of letting off steam and having some creative fun together. There can be boxed board games in the lounge or field trips to gaming spaces, local museums, and “escape rooms” for those who have such interests, as well as virtual activities. With any of these opportunities, we should be sensitive to those staff who prefer NOT to be involved and continue to allow self-determination, independence, and choice around the best ways to engage in playful spaces. But if we can normalize Play and celebrate the creative ways people might approach it, the dividends for our organization can be significant.

We need to Play. We need to Rest. We may even need Time to Do Nothing: By doing nothing, we can allow ourselves to mindfully breathe in This Moment, then notice emerging challenges before they grow, providing an enhanced capacity to focus on What Matters.