SABOTAGEUR AND/OR SABOTAGEE

I contend that, virtually, each and every day in your work you are either a sabotageur or sabotagee. While you most likely find this accusation to be startling, you are about to understand its relevance and reality.

Imagine that you have been working for a week on a proposal to present to a prospective client. If accepted, this would be the largest contract ever brought into your firm. You have made the final touches on it this evening. Prior to leaving the office you place the proposal in your boss’s in-tray with a note attached asking for her review and blessing.

You clearly state that you need this proposal back in your hands no later than 9:30 the next morning as you will need to make copies to distribute to your prospective client’s management team in your meeting with them. You point out that your presentation is the next morning at 11:00 A.M. in their offices across town.

At 9:30 the following morning you come into your boss’s office to get the proposal, make your copies, and be off to your appointment. You ask your boss for the proposal only to hear her ask quizzically, “what proposal?” Looking at her in-tray, you are shocked to see that your proposal is still sitting in her in-box…with your note attached.

Upon walking into her office that morning, she had been hit with a barrage of crisis’s and brushfires, all seeking her immediate attention. Because of this she chose to deal with the contents of her in-box…later.

Now the crisis is yours. There is no way that you can get your proposal reviewed, copied and be out the door to keep the appointment across town by 11:00 A.M. In this scenario you have just been sabotaged…and your boss happened to be the sabotageur.

While you know quite clearly that your boss would have never done this to you intentionally, it is important to remember the answer to this question…What the difference is between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter? Answer-NOTHING TO THE PERSON WHO’S DEAD!!!

Let’s look at the other side of this-
You have been asked to review a document that needs to be sent to Bob. Once Bob gets this from you he needs to devote about four hours on this before day’s end as he will then need to give this to the C.E.O. of your company for a presentation to the board of directors the following morning.

It has only taken you a few minutes to review this and, once completed, you have placed it in your out-box at 8:45 this morning. However, you are swamped with work, phone calls, e-mails and meetings. Your out-box has been piling up and it is now 3:30 in the afternoon before you decide to disseminate the contents of your out-box.

Bob has finally received this from you. However, it is 3:45 and he has four hours of work to do in order to prepare this for the C.E.O. Bob will be working into the night. He calls his wife saying that “something has come up.” He won’t make it home for dinner in time or to help their son with his school project as he had promised. You have not only just sabotaged Bob, you have sabotaged his family. Did you do this intentionally? Of course not. However, of what difference is that to Bob (and his family)?

The reasons for either form of this sabotage are directly related to the mismanagement of information. This has little to do with software or systems. It has everything to do with, what I refer to as, the human side of information management.

Len Merson, Founder, C.E.O. Chaos Over, Inc.
1-88-VERY CALM (Toll Free line)
619.980.7372 (Direct line)
Lmerson@chaosover.com
www.ChaosOver.com