It's Not About Efficiency, It's About Effectiveness

Sometimes, technical folks get too obsessed with being efficient, but it's important to be effective, and that asking questions and understanding how to apply efficiency to the right problems and tasks.

Transcript

1. Scott Lowe, VCDX 39 Author, Blogger, Geek http://blog.scottlowe.org / Twitter: @scott_lowe Colossians 3:17 NIV It’s Not About Ef ciency, It’s About Effectiveness Revisiting some ideas about productivity, ef ciency, and effectiveness for IT professionals
2. Before we begin • Get involved! Audience participation is encouraged and requested • If you use social media, feel free to post updates about this presentation (use hashtag #STLVMUG or the @STLVMUG handle) • You are welcome to take photos or videos of today’s presentation and share them online • This presentation will be made available online after the event
3. A quick intro • Husband, father, Jeeper, all-around geek • Blogger (10+ years at http://blog.scottlowe.org) • Author (7 books so far, 2 more in the works) • Speaker (Interop, VMworld, DevOps Networking Forum, OpenStack Summit, local meetups) • Podcaster (The Full Stack Journey podcast) • Employee at VMware, Inc., on the CTO team for NSX
4. Some context for our discussion • The IT industry is in a state of constant change • To cope with this constant change, we have to embrace continuous learning • So I’m often asked: when my job keeps me busy, how do I make time for continuous learning?
5. Who in here is being asked to do less with more?
6. Who in here is being asked to do less with more? No, we’re being asked to do more with less.
9. Ef ciency isn’t the end goal. Effectiveness is.
10. Ef ciency is the means whereby we pursue effectiveness.
11. Putting ef ciency and effectiveness in perspective 1. Keep the “big picture” in mind. (What is it I’m trying to accomplish?) 2. Know how the smaller tasks t into the overall goal. (Why am I doing what I’m doing?) 3. Emphasize the important, not necessarily the urgent. (Does what I’m doing make a difference?)
12. Important versus urgent
13. Some practical tips 1. Process e-mail, don’t manage it 2. Of oad where it makes sense 3. Forget about multitasking 4. Reduce the friction
14. Process e-mail, don’t manage it Simple four-step procedure for processing e-mail: 1. If you can do it in under 2 minutes, do it immediately 2. If it takes more than 2 minutes, add it to your trusted system 3. If you need the message, archive it 4. Otherwise, delete it
15. Of oad where it makes sense • The human brain is really good at some things, and really bad at other things • Use “of oads” to preserve mental capacity • Scripts (just run the script, don’t have to think about it) • Notes or voice memos (capture information for use later) • To-do lists (don’t go overboard, though) • Less is more (strive for simplicity)
16. Forget about multitasking • It’s a myth, forget about it • The brain isn’t capable of truly multitasking (more like hyperthreading) • Trying to multitask just adds latency due to context switching • You’re better off focusing your attention on a single task at a time (Pomodoro technique?) • Guard your attention!
17. Reduce the friction • This is a phrase I coined/borrowed to mean “make things simpler” • Examples: • Simplifying multi-step processes/procedures • Using text expansion utilities • Application macros • Goal here is to simplify and streamline your work ows
18. • VMworld is a great way to keep skills sharp and stay on top of industry trends • Bring your spouse/partner/signi cant other along with you for some great organized activities • Visit http://spousetivities.com for more information One more thing...
19. Questions & answers
20. Scott Lowe, VCDX 39 Author, Blogger, Geek http://blog.scottlowe.org / Twitter: @scott_lowe Colossians 3:17 NIV Thank you! Please be sure to provide feedback to the VMUG leaders about this session