And All That Jazz

The Manifesto Series # 2 :: EFFICIENCY VS EFFECTIVENESS1

(the secret behind effectiveness and efficiency)And all that Jazz.

Clint Bryce - Group Chief Creative Officer

Friday 18 March 2011

The Manifesto Series # 2 :: EFFICIENCY VS EFFECTIVENESS

The story begins here. The year is 1999.

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Crazy Blues.



Crazy Blues.



This is not the poster.



What do the following have in common?

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tinderbox. Crazy Blues. Mr John Kao.



It wasn’t until the following year that I made the connection.

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Mr John Kao.

First published 1996ISBNB 0-88730-864-3



Business. Jazz.

It wasn’t until the following year that I made the connection.

+ =

Creative Business.



“Jazz – like business – implies a series of balancing acts. It must always be disciplined – but never driven – by formulas, agendas, sheet music. It must always be pushing outward, forward, upward – and therefor, inevitably, against complacency.”

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– John Kao



“ ... whether I am alone or with others, my practice of life and the conduct of my thoughts and actions are the practice and conduct of a jazz player: I proceed by improvisation, by jamming.”

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– John Kao



At it’s heart jamming is about improvisation.



We are jamming when:

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we enjoy a great conversation




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we write a love letter, a poem, a song ...




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... we blog




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we dance ...




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we train for that big cycle challenge




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we win the cricket game




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we deliver that blockbuster presentation




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Rob delivers our Quirkstation chat




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an inspired product development team embark on the road to create something new and exciting.



And yes. We are jamming right now. Right here.

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When we walk the tightrope between analytic rigor and inspired

passion ... we leave the sheet music behind for new horizons,

“

we are jamming.”



This improvisational style derives it’s power from the way it juxtaposes certain vital human tensions, or paradoxes. The same applies in business. With us.

This is very powerful stuff.



Examples of these tensions include ...

The established (tradition, powers that be, status quo, processes) ...

Critical norms and standards ...

Responsiveness to the team ...

Discipline ...

Client service ...

Limiting budgets ...

Monitoring (reviews, time-keeping) ...

Expertise ...

Efficiency ...

The new. The new. The new. The new. The new. The new.

The need to experiment.

Individual expressiveness.

Free abandonment.

Creative production.

Generous hours.

Unmonitored.

Freshness, naïveté.

Exploration.



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Estimate by Task

© Web ReDesign 2.0 | Workflow that Works (ISBN 0-7357-1433-9)

Production schedules

Time sheets

Efficiency

Creativity

Strategy

Innovation

Effectiveness

Examples of these tensions include ...



Jazz music is called improvisational because it does not try to resolve these tensions.

In other words, it is impervious to recipes, to formulas. It is satisfied to live them – to work or rather ‘play’ them – for all they’re worth.

What I learnt was this:

i absolutely this!



What I learnt was this:

Realise that there is no winner, or loser, only the sound of the tune you have all agreed upon.

Play the tension in the room for all it’s worth ... but do not try to resolve it.



A well-managed enterprise cannot survive without sheet music. It allows the management of complexity, without which the performers would degenerate into cacophony.



Our role is to work the central paradox (or tension) of the ‘jam session’: to locate the ever mobile ‘sweet spot” somewhere between systems and analysis on the one hand ... and the free-flowing creativity on the other.



Here are my Top 10 suggestions ...



10 BANISH PROCRASTINATION

Successful musicians are prolific.

If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.



9 ADOPT THE ‘POST-IT’ PHILOSOPHY

If It Won't Fit On A Post-It, It Won't Fit In Your Day

‘Closed lists’ are more likely to be accomplished. Your day has a finite no. of hours - all your tasks for a 24h period should fit on a single 3X3 Post-It.

Time spent processing is arguably the most valuable and productive time of your day.

Smart Jazz musicians focus one song.



8 STEAL

Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination.

Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this your work (and theft) will be authentic.

Stealing also gives you a head start.

“It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.” - Jim Jarmusch



7 DON’T BE A SUPERHERO

After quoting 2 hours on a job you're 4 hours into it and only a quarter of the way done. Don't put your cape on.

Review 'dailies' will keep those capes in the closet and make progress (or lack of it) transparent to the team.

Band member’s gather often and frequently to help each other out.



6 BAN THE ‘DEATH MAGNET*’

Death Magnets are the traditional habits and patterns of thinking that continue to seduce companies. Because it has always been like this, we continue to follow like lemmings. Yet we don't ask why?

Our ecosystem is littered with ‘dead documents' that do nothing but waste peoples time - taking forever to create, but only seconds to forget.

Remove unnecessary layers of abstraction. It only distracts you from your tune.

*Death Magnet - a term coined by Jim Jones, a former M60 tank commander.



5 BE (INTELLECTUALLY) LAZY

Lazy folk find smart solutions. Do not solve problems with complicated approaches.

Find a Judo Solution; one that delivers maximum efficiency with minimum effort. Judo solutions are all about getting the the most out of doing the least. This can also be referred to as the’ Law of Least Effort’.

The important point is to be prolific and keep moving. The music must be played.



4 PRUNE MEETINGS AWAY

Few activities are more of a productivity drain than meetings.

If you must meet (and this should be a big “if”), make sure everyone knows what needs to be accomplished from the outset.

"Do we all know why we're here?" and then follow with, "Does everyone need to be here?"

If your set does not require the Sax then leave them out.



3 GET UP EARLY

Some of us are predisposed to late-night creation (like me), while others naturally wake with the sun (like Sarah M and Grant W).

Age is also a factor. (How many elderly people do you know that sleep in?)

Like it or not, most of the world works on a 9-to-5 schedule, which naturally provides the early riser with a certain advantage.

“Though evening people do have some advantages … they’re out of sync with the typical corporate schedule. When it comes to business success, morning people hold the important cards.” - Biologist Christoph Randler



2 MAKE TIME* AN ALLY.

Produce schedules, timetables and deadlines that harmonize disparate work styles. Easily written. Impossibly difficult to create: synchronizing differing perceptions of time ranks high among human problems.

The job of negotiating a mutually satisfactory agreement about time is part of the managers job.

*Footnote: Time is relative. And man-made. You can bend time. Ask me how. :-)



1 BE A JAZZ MUSICIAN.

We are all musicians. We are all creative. We are all artists.

Recognize, then play, the human tension for all it's worth. Understand that what may seem like 'conflict' does not require resolution. It is simply an artist following a tune they believe in. Follow their lead until you can introduce a complementary beat they then believe in.

Only then, will we be making music together.



fin. Q’s. Debate. Conversation.

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And All That Jazz

Business

Transcript of And All That Jazz