Comments on: Surgeons need to wash their hands. You need to keep your desk clean.

By: Jared Goralnick

Jared Goralnick — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Great analogy, Dan! Finding a way to get past the organizational stuff means getting a handle on it. I’m going to hold onto this analogy to doctors as it relates so well to so many information overload and organizational situations.

Thanks for sharing!

By: Tim Walker

Tim Walker — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, yes, yes.

We’ve talked before, I think, about John Wooden’s approach to coaching his UCLA basketball teams. He started with the freshmen (as a stunned Lew Alcindor recalled) by showing them how to put on their socks and shoes in a way that would prevent blisters and slipping.

Meet the problem at the point of contact. Work from the bottom up. This doesn’t preclude ALSO pausing to reflect on some of the big-big problems, but it gives you the foundation to make sure you can GET TO the big-big problems.

So, yes, amen.

By: Matthew Cornell

Matthew Cornell — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Good discussion, Dan. My attempted pithy summary: “The antidote for stuck strategy is focused action.”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t buy it… surgeons keeping their hands clean *is* a core part of their quality and their work. When people antagonize professionals about where they store pens in their desks… come one, find something better to do.

By: dan markovitz

dan markovitz — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Anonymous,

You’re right about the pointlessness of antagonizing professionals about where they store pens. But what about where and how they store emails and other information? In 1997, a WSJ study showed that executives were spending 6 weeks per year simply *looking* for information — not working on it, just looking for it. (And I can only imagine it’s gotten worse since then.) Even if their survey was wrong by 50%, think of the waste.

So the precise location of their pens may not be important. But the discipline and habit of organization is indeed critical to “their quality and their work.” Toyota considers 5S to be the foundation of all lean efforts, even though sweeping the floor may seem far removed from stamping a quarter panel.

By: testking N10-003

testking N10-003 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t buy it…Dan! one of my friend bought it but i must say that You’re right about the pointlessness of antagonizing professionals about where they store pens.