Adrian Savage on Multi-Tasking, Hamburger Management, and More
When I first stumbled upon Slow Leadership, the blog, about a year ago, something about it fascinated me right away. While the internet typically gets me all a-buzz, throwing bite-sized chunks of info from all angles, this website moved at a completely different pace. The articles were thought provoking, insightful and incredibly intelligent. The concept of Slow Leadership, it seemed, was actually pouring through the screen, washing over me as I read.
When I decided to interview some of my favorite online personalities, there was no doubt in my mind that the founder of Slow Leadership simply had to be a part of it. And so, I had an enlightening conversation with Adrian Savage (aka Carmine Coyote), the man behind the blog.
I've written up some highlights of our conversation in the article that follows. But, if you'd like to listen in, we recorded our call. You can find the audio file here PLAY FILE.
I began by asking Adrian where the concept of "Slow Leadership" came from and, it turns out, the idea started with a question: What would happen if we made work environments more civilized?
According to Adrian, Slow Leadership means, "slowing down and thinking, doing things consciously and deliberately, rather than jumping into the first idea that comes along. I think we're under tremendous pressure nowadays to do things quickly. And quickly isn't always doing them properly or even doing them the best way. So it's about encouraging people to think before they jump."
You'll often find the phrase "Hamburger Management" used throughout the website. When asked about this, Adrian recognized that the concept came from the idea of "slow food" - a hamburger being the exact opposite. It's full of short term benefits (fast, easy and cheap) but not really satisfying in the long term. Hamburger Management is the same idea. Adrian says, "It's the kind of management we all have to resort to at times, but it's not satisfying in a long-term way."
The blog started as a way of "testing the idea," says Adrian. "Do other people find it relevant and useful?" And the answer has been a resounding YES. He is inspired to keep it going due to the amazing feedback he gets from people who tell him how much his concepts have helped them. He says he feels a responsibility to these people now.
Adrian doesn't hide his contempt. "Multi-tasking is the work of the devil," he says.
"We only have so much attention. If you split it two ways, then you're probably giving the two things 50% of your attention each. If you split it 10 ways, you're maybe giving them 10% each. How much of your work can you really do with only 10 to 20% of your attention? The chances are that if you do that, you're going to make mistakes. You're going jump into things without really thinking about them and you'll do things that later you'll regret. So multi-tasking doesn't really save time, it actually costs you time. Like Hamburger management, it seems like a good idea at the time but what you don't realize is what you're going to pay for it later when you have to undo all the problems that you caused because you didn't put enough attention into what you're doing."
He goes on further to note that, "speed is often a substitute for setting sensible priorities." He suggests that, by failing to set appropriate priorities, you cause yourself more trouble later on when you realize you've spent too much time on things that didn't matter, while the things that matter a great deal didn't get enough time. It's ineffective and deeply unsatisfying.
You've heard the saying, "Don't just sit there do something," right? Well, Adrian says the opposite: "Don't just do something, sit there first and think about whether you really want to do it." If you do that, he says you'll be better equipped to determine what needs to be done and what might not need to be done at all. He believes you'll find an enormous amount of tasks really don't have to be done and you'll have more time for the ones that do.
Ask yourself, "Do I really need to do this? Do I really need to do this now?"
He uses the example of email, which constantly pings and demands our attention throughout the day. 99% of the time, he doesn't respond to his email for 24 hours. In that time, he gains some perspective and he can respond much more effectively. Rather than just responding right away without thinking.
"You cannot do everything! It's just not possible!" Because of that, he says you have to be careful about the things you do - and that requires time to think about it.
"Effectiveness matters more than efficiency," he says. "Efficiency is just getting things done, with as few resources as possible. But if what you get done doesn't prove to be a good idea, then it was ineffective. You'll have to do it again anyway and that's very inefficient at that point."
Does being an "authentic" leader mean you're born with the skills you need?
"I don't believe that there are born leaders," says Adrian.
He explains that authenticity is about being yourself. There's a huge difference between "being" and "doing". Leadership and Management are all about doing. It's not really about being. Being is who you are.
Whatever leadership style works for you has to fit with your being, with who you are. If it doesn't you come across as a fake and people are very good at spotting fakes intuitively. That undermines your credibility and makes people unwilling to trust you.
Natural leaders are people who are being themselves and using the techniques that fit with who they are. They come across as authentic and people trust them - a huge advantage.
Adrian warns of the danger of "fashion". Leadership styles go in fashions and people are tempted to go with what's "in". There are some that look good on you and some that do not. If you wear something, however fashionable, that doesn't look good on you, it won't help you. But if you find something that looks good on you, whether or not it's in fashion, you can give the strong impression of being your own person. Don't slip into using leadership fashions they last about as long as clothing fashions.
"The whole of business depends on trust." Adrian explains, "On the broadest level: You have to trust that your customers will pay you and they have to trust that you'll deliver what they're paying you for."
Trust is based on integrity and ethics. We assume people will do the right thing. If we find that they don't, we stop trusting them. And if we don't trust them, we stop doing business with them.
Once you destroy trust, you destroy the relationship on which the whole of business is based. We're seeing symptoms of a society in which trust has become undervalued
Adrian blames the winner take all, hyper-competitive viewpoint - the idea that the only thing that matters is to win and it doesn't make much difference how you do it. He feels this undermines the whole way we do business. People have ignored the underlying basis of ethics necessary to business and taken a short term view.
This, like Hamburger Management, may work in the short term but you pay for it in the long term.
As I mentioned early on in this article, Slow leadership has a different pace from the rest of the internet. It's not about "quick tips", it's about "sharing ideas". Adrian believes that, underlying the concept of the "bite size" pieces the media feeds us is the assumption that the reader is too stupid to be able to understand what's happening, or that they can't spend the time to think anything through properly. Adrian says, "I don't believe that."
"I don't know the answers, I have the questions. I am trusting my audience to grapple with them and come up with their own answers. I get some deeply felt, and deeply thought out comments - that tells me the audience is thinking about it."
His final words of advice: "Don't be afraid to take your time - it's your time and it's up to you to use it wisely. There are pressures to do things quickly for no other reason than to prove how busy you are. If you slow down, you'll find that you'll become a great deal more productive."