15 January 2008
Last Friday, after two years, I finally figured out how to forward calls from my office phone to Chris and Mike, both of whom sit within a few feet of me. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but you are wrong.Just to be clear it hasn't actually taken me twenty-four months to work it out... just to get annoyed enough to make the effort. This involved...
1) finding the phone on the Ericsson site
2) downloading the manual
3) skimming through it, and realising my phone's buttons didn't quite match (Grrr)
4) pressing buttons until I found the one the manual mentioned (named differently on my phone)
5) forwarding a call (Yay!)
6) Making my own phone labels so I didn't forget which buttons to press
If you think I am making a meal of this you are, I beg your forbearance, even wronger. This is a big deal. For the last two years stretching my phone cable across the room has been a "good enough" solution. Partly because it kinda works, but mostly because at the point when my phone rings for Chris or Mike, the need is just too URGENT to do anything other than stretch the cable... even if it means I am garrotted and Chris puts his back out. A classic case of "good enough" being good enough.
But no more. 2008 is my year for re-focusing on things that are Important, rather than just Urgent. Sorting out my phone has been important for the last two years, but it has never been urgent until the phone actually rings... by which time it's way too late.
If you are like me the Urgent stuff often beats the Important stuff because, well, IT'S URGENT.
But should it? Most of the value we create, and most of the really good work we do, comes from the Important space, not the urgent one. Some of you have asked why we re-jigged things at Semantic at the end of last year... this is why. It's the important things in life that count... and 2008 is my year for doing more of them.
Like, for example, investing half an hour to improve the life expectancy of my neck and Chris' back.
More in Part Two soon... after I've figured out how to change my phones voicemail settings :-)
Posted by Nick Warren at 12:40 PM
