Ephemeralization, a term coined by the late R. Buckminster Fuller (Bucky), is the ability of technological advancement to do "more and more with less and less until eventually you can do everything with nothing". Fuller's vision was that ephemeralization will result in ever-increasing standards of living for an ever-growing population despite finite resources. The concept has been embraced by those who argue against Malthusian philosophy. (scarcity)
"Fundamentally, political econonists misassume an inadequacy of life support to exist on our planet. Humanity therefore competes militarily to see which political system - socialism or capitalism (less exactly known as free enterprise) - is fittest to survive. In slavish observance of this misassumption, humans devote their most costly efforts and resources to "killingry" a vast arsenal of weapons skillfully designed to kill more people over ever greater distances and ever shorter periods of time while employing ever-fewer pounds of material, ergs of energy and seconds of time per killing.
Initially unforseen, the mass-production technology acquired supposedly only for weapons making has been converted after each war to powerful and practical use." (R. Buckminster Fuller. Cosmography)
Electric refrigeration, for example, first used on battleships, was adapted a generation later for use in the domestic environment on dry land.
So the apparent necessity to kill more efficiently, due to the scarcity of resources, a you or me world, has inadvertently given us, according to Bucky, the ability to take care of 100% of humanity. Scarcity, the very phenomenon, that is often the underlying catalyst for war, has, he demonstrates, created abundance. Realising it is another story!
Today, our ability to 'do more with less', covers all aspects of business and life. Examples abound. How much was a mobile phone 15 years ago and what did you get? - a very expensive (many thousands of dollars) mobile (brick) phone. Today we go into a store to buy a mobile phone and walk out with, say an iphone, that gives us an address book, calendar, calculator, camera, email, world clock, stopwatch, notepad, Dictaphone, music player, photo album plus, plus, plus! And it fits in the palm of our hand!
In business, ignoring technology for now, leaders, managers, supervisors and team leaders each day have the opportunity to do 'more with less' in many ways, one major one of which is through effectively delegating or assigning tasks to others. The key here though is the word effectively.
How often have you said or heard 'If you want a job done well, do it yourself!' I don't have accurate statistics, but I'm sure you and I can both come up with a multitude of examples of where resources, time, materials, money, effort etc. are wasted due apparently to people's inability to follow instructions.
The reality however, in my experience, after nearly 2 decades of leadership training and development with many of Australia's top companies, is that more often than not leaders are very poor at delegation. Tasks are often assigned on the fly, with little fore-thought, plenty of assumptions and a lack of opportunity for the person being given the task to seek clarify and confirm their commitment to it. (Even if the appropriate person was picked for the task.)
Today we will cover a seven step formula, that will greatly enhance your ability to do 'more with less' through others. Here we deal with Part 1 - Preparation for Task Assignment/Delegation
The basics of this were originally developed by Elliott Jacques (see Executive Leadership or Requisite Organisation).
So, to save you time, money, frustration, re-work and conflict and provide opportunities for your people to get to work, feel trusted to use their discretion and succeed - in other words everybody 'Doing More with Less' I suggest you do the following:
Before delegating/assigning a task consider and answer the following questions carefully -
Step 1 Purpose? What do I want/need the end result to be?
Step 2 Context? Why do I want/need it?
Step 3 Quantity? How many do I want/need?
Step 4 Quality? To what standard, format, finish?
Step 5 Resources? What am I making available for this to happen? (Equipment, budget, support, guidelines,
people, time, limits, authority)
Step 6 Timing? When specifically do I need it? When do I want progress updates? How do I want the updates?
Step 7 Integration? How does this integrate with other tasks in this and other areas of the business? Who will you be liasing with?
Once thought through, chances are, you will be surprised at what you might not have considered as well as who are the most appropriate candidates for the task. You will achieve significantly 'more with less' by just applying Part 1 above - Planning.
As the saying goes 'Proper, Prior, Planning, Prevents, Piss, Poor, Performance and whole lot else!
Taking 'doing more with less' to a whole other level will be Parts 2, 3 and 4 'Assigning the Tasks' - which will be the subject of my upcoming blog posts, and will cove:
- How to communicate the above and to whom.
- Creating the conditions that provide the greatest probability for successful delegation/assignment
- Gaining clarity, commitment, engagement and accountability?
In the meantime, your comments and questions are invited.
