Short Order GoTos

After the first big project in my class, it’s time to talk about work management (time management, getting things done, etc.). I like to have these sessions after a big project because they’re fresh off the horrible feeling of having left too much until the last minute. 

After we finished, I found myself thinking about the classic conundrum of "the urgent vs. the important." Eisenhower spoke about this as a way to try and figure out priorities... the urgent is rarely important, and the important is rarely urgent. Seth Godin talked about this more starkly when he said "short order cooks rarely make change happen." But I’d change Godin’s phrasing a bit and put it like this: short order cooks rarely get a chance to truly lead.

Some weekend morning, go to a Waffle House. Take some time and really watch the main cook. It’s a treat to see a seasoned short order cook, in the zone, as they juggle four omelettes plus six different things on the griddle, plus the waffle irons. They take in more input while they process what’s in front of them. They plate finished dishes and start new ones, they know the status of everything in front of them. I’m always impressed. 

While that person is in the middle of various stages of smothered, covered, diced, and chunked, imagine asking them in that moment to make a decision about a change to the menu. Or the inventory. Or the strategy of expanding the customer base. The person we are watching as a masterful short order cook definitely could do all these things, but not right then. They’d need to take time, think things through, study the data, ask people questions, and test some ideas. But the hash browns—the place will collapse without the hash browns.

Short term cycles keep us working on what is immediately needed (or demanded), but those things sap our strength to do important work that needs to be done. Make meaningful arguments. Move mountains.

What if your university inadvertently or even purposefully suppresses meaningful change by keeping effective or dependable workers mired in short order work? Are there faculty stuck in that trench of urgency? You know them, you may be one of them—the Go To people. These precious few who have an intense (overdeveloped?) sense of duty. You need hash browns to keep the place running, and the GoTos are really great at the griddle.

What about the others in your unit—at the same rank as the GoTos—who are never really dependable enough to end up with a shift at the griddle making the hash browns? It’s not that you can’t train them, it’s just that they never quite perform at the level you need to keep the place running at full capacity. 

Does your unit keep turning to the GoTos, knowing they’ll carry the weight? Does your unit transition that work to more hires of professional staff and middle administration? When that ratchet effect squeezes your budget, what aren’t you able to afford to invest in? Who eternally populates your leadership positions while the GoTos keep the wheels turning?

What is rewarded, who is promoted? 

(thumbnail image by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash)