Management

First Things First!

An exercise is known as ‘Stephen Covey’s Big Rocks’. Imagine a bucket. Put three or four big rocks in. “Is the bucket full? ” “No” you reply. “Of course not” I say and put some smaller rocks in it to fill in the gaps. “Full now? “, “No”. I put in some sand, then some water. It’s full.

So, what’s the learning here? It’s to do with the order. What would happen if you’d reversed the order? Put the water in first, then the sand, then the small rocks. There would be no room for the big rocks. These big rocks are the important things in your life. You need to schedule them first, not try to squeeze them in after arranging the water (writing pointless reports), sand (unnecessary travel) or small rocks (staff meetings where no-one listens and everyone looks at the clock).

What are the big rocks in your life? For many it’s things like family, time to watch the children grow up, time to write that novel, time for themselves, time to make a difference. You decide. You identify 3 or 4 things you believe are important. The 3 or 4 things that will make a difference at your funeral.

Source: Real Time Management by Byron Kalies

TEAM WORK COUNTS

A mother, who wanted to encourage her young son to continue playing the piano, bought tickets and took her son to a performance of the great pianist Ignace Paderewski.They took their seats near the front of the concert hall the evening of the performance and eyed the majestic Steinway waiting on stage for the great pianist to begin.

Soon the mother found an old friend to talk to and didn’t notice that her boy had slipped away.On the hour the lights in the hall began to dim and the spotlights came on. It was at that moment the little boy’s mother noticed him up on piano bench hammering out “Chopsticks.”

She was shocked and embarrassed, but it was too late to hurry up and get him as the Master of the night appeared on the stage and quickly moved to the keyboard where her little boy was focused in on his own masterpiece.Paderewski gently whispered to the boy, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.” Leaning over, he reached down with his left hand and began filling in the bass part. Soon his right arm reached around the boy and improvised a delightful enhanced melody.

Together, the old master and the young beginning pianist mesmerized the audience with their blended and beautiful music.Teams kind of work this way don’t they? The novice to the expert on great teams work together to accomplish extraordinary things. There is little of what we do on teams that doesn’t require some type of help from someone. We can’t succeed without the help of others. Whether that is depending on someone to complete something for you, asking for a hand on something, asking a question, or simply working together – we need each other on teams!

S.NAGARAJAN

Pic Source : http://ifeel.edu.in/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Healthcare-Management-Course-from-Great-Lakes.jpg