If you want something done - give it to the busy people

It took me years of leadership learning and managing teams to realize this absolute truth: “If you want something done - give it to the busy guy!”. Of course, this applies to all genders, not only dudes. After all, there is a reason why busy people get so much more business than those who are not busy. The busier they are, the better they manage their time, and the more effective they become at weighing up how long things will take and how to optimize their workload, the better they become at getting things done.

Among other things, busy people get more done in a day because they don't waste time. People with a mile-long to-do list are also more likely to be able to handle any additional tasks thrown at them — whereas someone with fewer things to do in a day might not get around to finishing any of them. People with packed lives develop a sense of how long things take, how much they can fit in any given day or week, and how much they’ve currently got on their plate. When they take something on, it’s because they have quickly estimated how long it will take, and whether it is feasible to execute. They’ve taken stock and assessed the amount of available time, and determined that it can be done. 

When you ask a busy person for help, the worst thing that can happen is that they may say “No“. -and that’s because they have calculated that it won’t get done in the time available. They’re not likely to say “Yes” and then let you down. Everybody likes to work with people who meet their deadlines and do what they say they will do. Over time, more and more people want to work with these people they can rely on, which, in turn, means that they become busier, more experienced  and, consequently, even more productive. 

Dr Hadzic's Regional Anesthesia, NYSORA and Research (SciMed) Teams

As the author of several books and 200+ scientific articles, I have worked with hundreds of incredibly resourceful clinicians and educators. Whenever I have approached them and asked them to write a chapter or a piece of content for a publication deadline, my request was invariably met with great support and enthusiasm for the project, and a genuine desire to be part of something that expands the greater good and moves the needle of education towards the positive. I have no doubt that their enthusiasm and their desire to help was sincere, but, without sufficient experience of the task or of the planning and scheduling required in order to meet the deadline stipulated, they were not in the position to know exactly whether they would or execute the task in the appointed time. So that, when the rubber meets the road, and it comes to submitting that chapter on time, or at all, for that matter, it’s a different story. The yet-accomplished would-be authors who are looking for a publishing opportunity often do not have the rigors of the experienced authors. They are often unable to submit on time, and I have been often left in the lurch, having to solve the problem. Solving the problem typically involves writing the book chapter yourself or reaching out to people who are much busier than the junior contributors, but get things done!

When you are running a busy ship, deadlines are deadlines. You don’t have much time to start chasing up content that has not been delivered in time, and you certainly don’t have the time to stop what you are doing and coach the writers in what must be done in order to accomplish the task.

This is why, when allocating the work, you need some way of being able to ascertain whether or not the person you ask has a sufficient grasp of what is required of them in order to complete the assigned project on time, as I have discovered,  the best way do that is to assign the task to those busy people who have accumulated that knowledge by experience. 

Drs Angela Lucia Balocco, Ana M López Gutiérrez, and Catherine Vandepitte, the editors of the New NYSORA's Peripheral Nerve Blocks textbook. And an experienced TEAM that delivers!  

We learn by experience. By definition, busy people accumulate experience at a faster rate, not only in how to approach the task, but in understanding exactly what is required in order to deliver that task on time. Thus, when the busy, experienced person agrees to take on a task, they are answering from a place of knowledge and their assurance that the task will be delivered on time is accurate.

That is not to say that the contributor who fails to deliver the task, or to deliver it on time, is dishonest or insincere, but that they are simply not in possession of sufficient  experience of what the task involves to allow them to make an informed judgment about their ability to deliver. 

You soon get to know the people you can depend on to deliver. And you get to appreciate why an honest “No” is worth a dozen unrealistic “Yesses”. How to do that faster? Ask yourself who has enough experience to be able to guarantee that the job will be submitted in time? In other words, I recommend that you ask the busy guy!

#leadership #entrepreneurs #entrepreneurship

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Prof. Dr. Admir Hadžić has been at the forefront of academic medicine for 2+ decades. He has worked as a doctor, researcher, entrepreneur, inventor, touring musician and Belgian beer maker (DR BLUES Belgian Brews®). He is a recipient of several prestigious awards for his research and educational achievements. He has authored several best-selling medical textbooks on anesthesiology, which have been translated into several languages and used as standard texts at universities worldwide (McGraw Hill Professional Publishing Division). Dr Hadžić directs a global medical, and educational company (NYSORA, Inc.). He is married and a father of five.