Have you ever had the thought “Boy, I have my hands full”? What you do next could be the difference between success and failure.
I often teach my customers that when you feel like you are juggling too many things, you should pick one of the balls and throw it to the ground. Why? Because a conscious, thoughtful decision is always going to work out better than something that is unintentionally incomplete.
In other words, throwing a ball to the ground is better than dropping a ball. Even as a circus performer. Imagine being a new juggler performing for the first time in public. I’m sure you have seen this. On a boardwalk or entertainment complex. You know, anywhere there are street performers. You’ve been practicing and practicing, and you have it down when you juggle 4 items, but that fifth thing you throw in the air is a pickle. You’re thinking, Why can I do this sometimes, but not others? And then you give yourself the pep talk, YOU CAN DO THIS!
We’ve all done it, right? You can do this.
And usually you can. But some days, you just have too many balls in the air. Usually, the “one too many” wasn’t one that you chose to juggle; it’s one that someone tossed to you unexpectedly.
So, back to the street performer, out on the boardwalk. The sea breeze, the seagulls cooing, and you have 4 balls in the air, “feeling good, like I should”. But you were trying to decide if this is the day that you start juggling 5 balls, so the extra is sitting on the ground in front of you.
That’s pretty much every day for me. I am juggling tasks in my comfort zone, but have more that I have not formalized sitting in waiting, so that when I clear one task, I can pick up another to add to the juggle. Well, what happens to me all too frequently is that someone takes that task that hasn’t been formalized or even something I am ready to pick up, and suddenly it becomes a priority. The dreaded “one too many” task. That’s part of the Process Dstillery approach. Distil the complex to the manageable. In this case, by making sure that you never drop a ball, but you do throw them down occasionally to ensure success.
Imagine what would happen to that street performer if, while juggling, someone did that to them. Picture the scene: juggler, tip jar, extra ball. I’m doing it….juggle, juggle, juggle. The occasional nimrod heckles me, occasionally, but no big deal. Professionals deal with that all the time, right?
Well, what if it wasn’t just a heckler, what if someone approached…you think they are going to give you a tip, so you nod or smile, and then the unthinkable happens. That nimrod picks up the extra ball and tosses it to you unexpectedly. You think WTF?? What you do next is the difference between success and failure, right?
Ironically, in business, someone tossing you another ball happens unexpectedly all the time. Are they a nimrod for doing it? No, because they can’t see what you are juggling.
So a new ball gets tossed to me. It’s not overwhelming, but I wasn’t prepared for it. Basically, because it wasn’t my idea. Do you get flustered and drop all the balls? Do you ignore the fact that a ball was tossed to you and let it fly right by? Or do you catch it and decide what to do with it?
I’d argue that in business, we always catch it. But we don’t always juggle it. You see, that’s where Tactical Procrastination comes in. It’s that sticky note that has been on your monitor for 3 weeks, silly.
As a street performer, you are there to entertain and impress, in hopes of people tipping. So a successful juggler would likely catch the fifth ball, juggle it a couple of times, and then throw it to the ground and go back to their comfort zone.
Why can’t we do that in business? People throw us balls all the time, and if it’s not our focus, we tend to watch it fly by and land in the no-man’s land called our email inbox.
Imagine the reaction from the crowd when you seamlessly handle the unexpected ball toss. That nimrod was trying to make you look like a fool, and you now look like a superstar. You’re not still juggling the ball, but that doesn’t matter, because you effectively caught the ball and took action. Applause and tips assured.
Unfortunately, in an office, applause and tips are unusual, but recognition isn’t. The reputation that you are so proud of is likely due to you being a good juggler. But are you the best juggler you could be? How you handle this situation is the difference between being good and being great at what you do.
As a consultant, a big part of my job is to help our clients decide what the priorities are. To help them decide which ball to throw to the ground. You see it’s not whether you have time for “all the things”, it’s that you focus on the right things and throw the right balls to the ground.