Value management

We were at a meeting recently where somebody confidently proclaimed that time management no longer exists. Time, according to Einstein is just as reality an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. But that’s not an answer, to our mind time is real, and so is the ability to manage it. What he meant was this: today’s work processes involve so many different (micro) tasks as well as constant interruptions, that on any given day or week you will not be able to finish your To Do list. You can no longer expect to neatly work your way through the set of tasks you, your boss or your family have defined for you. You are unable to finish every single task at the end of the workday or week.

Our work has become more intense, non-linear, unpredictable and sadly, frantic. Information technology has increased productivity, yet it has not given us more time. We still end up with less of it; one of the cold ironies of modern life. We answer our remaining e-mails in the evening, listen to our voicemail driving to work or a customer, our meetings are interrupted by mobile phone calls, there is the morning newspaper to read, but also the newsletters you receive through e-mail subscriptions, RSS feeds and what have you. Your computer contains all the information you use to get by in a day and helps you produce whatever your boss is willing to pay you a salary for. God forbid your computer breaks down, it will freeze up all your productive possibilities! But that might just be a blessing in disguise for many of us; finally some time to reflect and something to blame for not being productive! If that’s the only way to get some peace of mind; forget about managing time, you will never succeed.

There is a way out of this. Stephen Covey has described it in his comprehensive book on 'The Seven habits of highly effective people’, Peter Senge tells about it in ‘The fifth discipline’. The challenge is no longer organizing your agenda, it is prioritizing your tasks and working together with others to learn how to deal with everything that comes your way. The leading consideration is no longer time, it’s value. There are too many tasks to do, so do the ones that add most value. Value involving (at least) four dimensions: personal, social, creative and financial, which we coincidently capture in our assessment of network value.

So, Time management becomes Value management. This requires us to address an entirely different set of questions. Task lists are easily filled, if not by ourselves, others will gladly oblige us by defining tasks they would like us to execute. Value management requires an internal mechanism for determining what is important, an inner sense of direction, an awareness of what pursuits are meaningful and an awareness of the consequences of choosing those pursuits for yourself and others. Value management therefore requires personal leadership.

Personal leadership emphasizes a vision and an understanding of what you want to achieve and what you need to do to achieve it. What most people tend to forget is that it is also very important to know how far you are willing to go, what you are willing to sacrifice in order to achieve your goals. We can have great ambitions, but often prefer to achieve them the easy way. How far are YOU really willing to go if push comes to shove! The same goes for the people you work and share your vision of the future with.

Making the switch from Time management to Value management implies that profound considerations need to be integrated into your daily routine; your shared Vision and resulting goals drive the choices you make and are a constant presence in everything you do. Discovering your own values and how they influence others is an arduous process, determining and sticking to what you really believe in is challenging. It becomes a lot easier if shared with others!

The benefits are substantial. When we master Value management, decisions really tend to become simple and straightforward. This is what Stephen Covey calls a principle centred lifestyle. Some might even say that the satisfaction you feel as a result of an achievement is proportional to the amount of suffering and sacrifice that was required. No pain no gain.