CHAPTER 6

Unclutter, Unravel, and Transform

Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better,
you have to take things into your own hands.
—CLINT EASTWOOD

Quick! What do you think when you walk into a person’s office that has piles of paper on the desk, an overflowing trash can, stale coffee on the table, and a generally sloppy appearance?

If you are like most, you probably walk away feeling that this person’s life is out of control. You may wonder how he can ever get anything done. Where would he start?

Now, how do you feel when you walk into an office where the desk is relatively clean, things seem to be in order, and there is no sign of panic in sight?

Which of those two people do you think has the situation under control? Which person do you think would be indispensable to an organization or earn a promotion, assuming all other factors were equal? Sure, you would choose the neat freak—the orderly desk of the person who is obviously in control of his workspace, time, and appearance.

UNCLUTTER

Fair or not, people make decisions on your organizational skills by what they see around your workspace. A cluttered desk is not a sign of being a busy, important person. The cluttered desk is a sign of confusion and indecision. It creates stress for most people. The Indispensable person is well organized and under control and transmits a confident appearance.

Uncluttering isn’t confined to your desktop. Look at your calendar. Is it booked to the max, or do you have time to handle daily paperwork, routine tasks, and last-minute meetings? Do you have the time to complete the important things that pop up every day? Get yourself organized so that you will convey a sense of control, confidence, and pride that others would want to follow.

Here are 10 organizational tips that will help decrease the clutter:

1. Do you know where your time goes? Clutter is the result of not taking the time to clean up the mess. Keep track of how you spend your time for two weeks. OK, you may not want to do it for two weeks, but how about two days? The results will show you where your time is invested and where your time is “cluttered” up. Without tracking where your time is going, you will not know what to change. Once you understand the realities of where you are spending your time, you can begin to make decisions to improve.

2. Create a “to talk” or “e-mail draft” folder for your boss, subordinates, and peers. Unless it is a real emergency, wait until you have at least two items in the file before interrupting any of those people with your question. Better yet, send one e-mail a day with everything on that e-mail from the day instead of sending numerous e-mails throughout the day. It will save you and the recipients time and frustration. You will also be surprised how many e-mails are not so important by the end of the day. Text messaging is the same. Do not text bomb every time something pops into your mind. Send texts only when immediate answers are required.

3. Take a speed-reading course. You could have read this book by now.

4. Close your door for 20 minutes, put up the do-not-disturb sign, and use that time to organize yourself every day.

5. Throw things away. Ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that could happen if I throw this away?” Most of the time, you can live with your answer, so start filling your wastebasket. What about electronic communications? Every computer has a delete button—make it your friend. Not comfortable throwing things away? Find the office “pack rat,” and become his new best friend. Someone around the office has a copy of every memo and report from the past 10 years. Love that person—but throw your trash away.

6. Go to lunch at 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. to save both the time in the line and the time that it takes to get your food served. Going to lunch at noon will conservatively cost you at least 15 minutes a day … and the tip is the same. Think that is a good deal?

7. The key to paper and e-mail management is to keep it moving! Move the paper or e-mail to your out basket, your “to do” file, your “to read” folder, or your trash. Don’t just let a message sit. Clean out your in basket!

8. Never clear off your desk by randomly throwing things in a drawer. You will eventually have to go through that drawer. Instead, create a logical system for storing these items in your desk.

9. If you only use a few lines of a report, ask the IT department for a reformat, if possible. Four pages when you need four lines just doesn’t make sense—does it?

10. Do these four things before you leave the office: (1) Clear your desk. (2) Clear out your in basket and new messages. (3) Plan tomorrow’s activities. (4) Enter your next day’s to-do list in your organizer. Then go home. Planning the next day before you leave reduces stress and allows you to enjoy your time away from the office.

Everything counts! Sending a signal of being organized and under control will help separate you from everyone else as an Indispensable person.

UNRAVEL

Genius is the ability to reduce the
complicated to the simple.
—C.W. CERAM

Every year around the holidays, I find myself in a bad mood. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I love the fun and festivities. But my mood is soured for a short period of time because of those darn lights we use to decorate our house.

At the end of each holiday season, I put them in the boxes so carefully. Yet when the next season rolls around, they have become one tangled mess. I spend several hours trying to unravel those dratted strings of lights. In the process I get frustrated, lose my holiday spirit, and get ready to go buy new lights. Last year’s strings of lights have become my number one enemy.

Then, my wife comes along. She has a cool head. She takes the lights one strand at a time and unravels each strand without saying a word. Why is she able to fix the problem when I am frustrated and ready to start all over? I think the key difference is that she is patient, has a systematic way to unravel the lights, and understands the process.

Getting frustrated or angry or giving up will never help solve a problem at home or at work. The Indispensable person is a positive problem solver who follows a defined process.

One occupation that has to solve problems fast and effectively is that of airplane pilot. Think about how pilots approach a problem.

Let’s suppose that a light begins flashing, signaling a hydraulic problem. The first thing the pilot does is check all of the instruments. Then, the pilot goes to the “black manual.” The manual describes contingencies for almost every situation that could occur. The pilot then goes through the checkpoints, one by one, until the light quits blinking. The pilot knows then that the problem is solved.

Compare that with what happens in most organizations today. Maybe turnover is rampant, customers are going to competitors, or morale is low. Lights are flashing. What do we do?

Sometimes we throw a blanket over the flashing light so we can’t see the annoying problem. We just ignore it and hope it will go away. However, most problems do not just disappear—rarely, if ever, will a problem disappear on its own.

The light is still flashing.

Some may want to change the bulb. Then, after replacing the bulb, the new bulb begins blinking just like the old bulb. Now, what can we do? How about smashing the bulb with a hammer? We may feel better because the bulb is no longer making that annoying flash, but we still have the same problem.

You see, most of the time, the bulb is not the problem. In reality, the issue is a systematic problem that has to be discovered and solved at the root. Same thing within work groups. Frequently, precious time is wasted finding someone to blame or passing the problem to someone else, instead of solving the problem that is making everyone look bad.

Every organization has plenty of people who can make situations worse. There is an abundance of those people. In contrast, the people striving to become indispensable are those who have unraveled the complexities of a situation, discovered the real facts, kept a cool head, followed a process, and solved the issue.

Notice that the pilot does not waste time figuring out who caused the problem. The pilot fixes the problem and then looks for the cause. Also, notice that my wife never blamed me for the tangled mess. She never took time to question each of the kids to see if any of them were at fault. I don’t think that would have done much good anyway, do you? Instead, she chose to accept the wad of tangled wires and bulbs as it was and began unraveling the strands of lights.

Is unraveling a talent? You bet it is, and one key to unraveling is accepting total responsibility for the situation, regardless of the circumstances that got you to that point.

Most of the time, it is counterproductive to spend time finding someone to blame—and yes, there is always plenty of blame to go around. But, the Indispensable person is solution oriented and focuses on unraveling the problem and creating some viable alternatives. In winning organizations, the number one objective is to fix the problem, not fix the blame. And if you eliminate blame from your thoughts, you are on your way to becoming Indispensable!

Once you accept responsibility, you can move forward—into the solution mode.

The unraveling process is making molehills out of mountains. Most people look at a mountain as being too big or complex to attack. The Indispensable person looks at the mountain as a bunch of molehills put together that have to be unraveled—deconstructed one small piece at a time.

The unraveling process begins with clearly understanding the problem. What is the situation, the impact of the situation, and the desired result? Answer those three questions, and you are well on your way to getting the problem solved.

Next, what are the alternatives?

Are the alternatives doable, or do they cost too much in time, resources, and energy? You will know this step is complete when you understand the extent of the problem and know enough to solve all—or part—of it for good.

Then, develop a plan to execute. This is the easiest step of unraveling, if the other steps have been done properly. The Indispensable person is an unraveler who creates positive outcomes from negative situations.

TRANSFORM

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man
perfected without trials.
—CHINESE PROVERB

Remember those cool little robots that could be changed into intergalactic fighting machines when you were a kid? They changed from humanoid robots to awesome war machines, but you had to know what buttons to push to make the transition occur.

So, what does this have to do with becoming indispensable?

The Indispensable person is probably going to be someone who knows what buttons to push, someone who is a transformer—a change agent. Isn’t it interesting how people are so adverse to change … almost any kind of change? Even changes that are obviously for the good are met with resistance.

“The only constant is change” has been a universal truth since it was reportedly first stated in 500 BC. Why, then, are most people so uncomfortable with change? It is probably because change requires leaving their comfort zone and moving into the unknown. Without change, though, people have a tendency to get into a rut of doing the same things the same ways. Should we be surprised when we get the same results?

Remember this: eventually, a rut can become a grave because the only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. When you are in a rut, the first thing you need to do is to quit digging. Experience tells us that we cannot improve without making some kind of change. In fact, preparing to be indispensable will require change. So the question is not if change will happen, but rather, how are you going to transform the change to a positive event?

I heard about an experiment several years ago to evaluate reaction to change. Four tubes were laid side by side on the floor. A cube of cheese was placed in the second tube. A mouse was then released, and it immediately went to the first tube. Finding the tube empty, the mouse proceeded to the second tube. There it discovered and ate the cheese, which met its basic need for survival. The mouse then returned to its point of release.

The next day, the mouse followed the same routine by going to the empty first tube, eating cheese from the second tube, and returning to its point of release. The mouse repeated the same routine for several days. Finally, realizing that it was a waste of time going to the first tube, the mouse began going directly to the second tube. The mouse ate the cheese, met its need for survival, and went back to its point of release. This routine also continued for several days.

The people conducting the experiment moved the cheese to the third tube the next day. The mouse went directly to the second tube, where its needs had always been met, and there was no cheese.

What was the mouse’s response? Did it go back to the first tube looking for the cheese? No. Did it go back to where it had started? No. Did it go to the third tube searching for the cheese? No.

The mouse chose to stay in the second tube where its need for survival had always been met and waited for the cheese to come to it. If allowed, the mouse would have starved in the second tube, waiting for the cheese—instead of reacting to the change.

Doesn’t this sound familiar? “Let’s wait,” they say. “We have always done it this way, and it has always worked in the past!”

So, what’s the point? There are a couple.

First, when things change, you need to make sure you don’t “starve to death” waiting for things to go back to the way they used to be. Doing things the way you always have, being warm and fuzzy in your comfort zones, can be the greatest enemy to your potential.

Second, the best time to make change is when things are going well, rather than when you have a problem in sight. If the mouse had been searching for more cheese while it was meeting its basic need of survival, it might have discovered a whole block of cheese in the third tube.

Therein lies the paradox of change: the best time to change is when it seems the least necessary. Why? Because you are able to move forward with a clear mind rather than being distracted by your current issues.

You can transform yourself by being enthusiastic about yourself and your work. Enthusiasm is as important to your success as how you dress, how you look, how much skill you have, how much education you’ve accumulated, and how gifted you think you are.

The good news is that you have an opportunity to choose the attitude you will have for each situation every day. You have control over how you respond to your situation. Whether it is a change in job assignments, the way you spend your lunch hour, or your attitude while you’re in your car driving to work—you have control.

All too often people want to blame their attitude about something on past events and experiences in their lives. Charles Dickens once advised, “Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Don’t brood over mistakes, carry grudges, or harbor hate. Each of those negative emotions possesses the power to prevent you from accomplishing the success you desire.

The Indispensable people are transformers! They make change a positive experience for everyone around them.

Take Action

Three of the common criteria that are evaluated in job interviews are these:

1. Is this candidate organized enough to handle additional responsibilities?

2. Can this candidate solve problems?

3. How well does this candidate handle change?

You can separate yourself from your competition right now by being a champion in all three of those areas.

If you are like most, the most challenging of the three is solving problems. Problems will not solve themselves and just disappear. The good news is that you can become a champion problem solver by following a systematic process.

Here Is a Path to Follow

Problem solving begins with a clear understanding of what caused the problem—not just the results of the problem. The best way to understand is to write the problem on paper. Writing clarifies the situation. If you are serious about solving a problem, you will need to write each of the following on paper:

1. Clearly state the problem.

2. Describe the impact of the problem.

3. Describe what you want to happen: what will be the result of solving the problem?

4. List at least three alternatives for solving the problem.

5. Pick the best alternative and create a plan.

6. Implement the plan.

The Indispensable person is a positive problem solver and change transformer.

A small trouble is like a pebble. Hold it close to your
eye, and it fills the whole world and puts everything out of focus. Hold it at a proper distance, and it can
be examined and properly classified. Throw it at your
feet, and it can be seen in its true setting, just one
more tiny bump on the pathway of life.
—CELIA LUCE