Workplace burnout has become one of the top concerns in today’s offices. But then you probably knew that. The question, of course is what to do about it. Even if those on your team are not burned out in the technical sense, chances are they feel overwhelmed a good portion of the time. If you search on the web for solutions, you’ll find advice like get more sleep, eat a better diet, take time to relax, and spend more time with family and friends.
If you suggest these ideas to your team, they’ll probably say, “Yeah, right, just after I get all that stuff done that’s loading down my plate.” You see, these big picture ideas are good in theory. But they, and probably you, are wondering how you get out from under the daily press of endless tasks. I can’t cover all the practical solutions I suggest to clients in this short video. But I can give you one that, over time, will provide a significant amount of relief – develop a subtraction mindset.
I can’t claim credit for this term. It was coined by Stanford professors Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao for this book, The Friction Project. (There is a link to purchase the book in the description below.) They argue that many times we overwhelm ourselves by creating or perpetuating processes and practices that are unnecessary, out-of-date or were created for a one-off situation that no longer exists.
When you and your team develop a subtraction mindset, every process and practice becomes a candidate for elimination or simplification. Now, that might seem like an obstacle to getting things done. After all, who’s got the time to stop and examine the process when you’re trying to get through it? But those who practice a subtraction mindset integrate this philosophy into their daily practices. How many times, for instance, have you thought, “Why are we really doing this?” about one process or another? But rather than stopping to jot a note to examine whether it is still relevant, you’ve just continued doing what you were doing? Then, perhaps, this question occurs to someone else. But they too move on without jotting a note to consider it later. So it never really gets addressed
Those with a subtraction mindset, jot down that reminder to revisit the process at a time when there is less pressure or, perhaps, during a designated team meeting or retreat. If you were to take a step back and make a list of all the policies, procedures and practices involved in what you do, changes are you would identify a considerable list of candidates for modification or even elimination.
So how do you develop and implement a subtraction mindset among those on your team? Here are a few of the ideas the authors suggest. (For a more comprehensive explanation, read chapter five in the book.)
First, identify the stupid stuff. This is the low-hanging fruit. These are all the unnecessary steps in forms and processes that everyone complains about. You might begin by asking team members to build a list of candidates for elimination. After a couple of weeks compare everyone’s lists. The items that appear frequently are probably the first to be eliminated. You might create a Google doc to which everyone can add candidates for eliminate or combination. Then periodically meet to review the list and subtract the irrelevant tasks and processes. A good way to evaluate these candidates is to simply ask, “What value does this task or process bring to our overall outcomes?”
Second, figure out the value and cost of meetings. We all complain about the number, value and time it consumes to attend meetings. But have you ever figured out the true monetary drag due to these gatherings? After all, a one-hour meeting, attended by eight people, consumes a full workday’s value. If those attending are paid an average of $30 per hour or $240 per day, is the meeting really worth $1920?
Third, build a journey map. Consider what your clients, customers, vendors and co-workers have to go through to work with your team. Do you put them through unnecessary hoops? Do they have to establish three different user-names and passwords if they want to access the different systems you work with? Are you asking them to complete information on a form when they have already provided it elsewhere? You get the idea.
How about within your team? How about that quarterly report? What about those annual audits? How about the proposals management seems to ask for but rarely acts on? How about the steps in each one of these endeavors?
As I said, these are just three of the many ideas for fostering a subtraction mindset in The Friction Project. My approach to helping teams and individuals overcome feelings of overwhelm has always been about reducing the number of daily decisions we make. After all, making fewer decisions allows us to conserve the sugar energy our brains need to focus on the more important tasks. Making fewer decisions also enables us to recover our balance and have time for family, friends and activities that stimulate our lives outside of work. Why waste decision energy on the “stupid stuff?”
What do you do to reduce the unnecessary decisions in your life and on your team? Put them in the comments below. We’d all like to know.