Efficient or Effective?
The passing of Stephen R. Covey the other day leaves us with
the question about how we are “passing away” our own lives. For years in business, the rage was time
management. Oh the seminars, the tools,
the advice that had this one message—control your time and you get what you
want. Nobody asked the question—What do you want to control your time
for? Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People answered that question.
Manage your time to be effective—meaningful
action to contribute significantly.
The maxims are:
- Be proactive,
- Begin with the end in mind.
- Put first things first.
- Think win/win.
- Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
- Synergize
- Sharpen the saw (Ben Franklin)—improve always.
My favorite Covey book is The Speed of Trust. Although written after 7 Habits, the basic premise of trust precedes everything we do. My experience teaches me that the "habits" only become a part of our lives as we grow to trust ourselves.
Covey grew up on crutches when a bone disease weakened his femurs. He had to look for meaningful ways to contribute, which perhaps led to a book about being effective. You have to make that choice every time you cross the room on crutches. Be proactive. Find the nerve ending for what you seek. Push on it. And then get better at knowing which nerves to push. Make it a habit in your life,
Covey grew up on crutches when a bone disease weakened his femurs. He had to look for meaningful ways to contribute, which perhaps led to a book about being effective. You have to make that choice every time you cross the room on crutches. Be proactive. Find the nerve ending for what you seek. Push on it. And then get better at knowing which nerves to push. Make it a habit in your life,
Sum them all up?
Maybe…look for the nerve ending which you can pressure to fire up the passion of life. All of us know two experiences. The first is exhaustion from work. (We are absolutely worn out; steel on steel
with our brakes.) The second is the work of exhaustion which feels
fulfilling. (You are tired from doing a meaningful work that leaves you feeling
better than when you started.)
Example? From Covey, “don’t
kill the golden goose.” How often do we
overwork at what we like to do and kill the experience itself? Being “effective” is meaningful and
contributes. It is not mindless repetition,
even of something you like to do.
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