Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [714]
EC of the Classic Dilemma of White-Collar Burnout
After college life and its dilemmas, careers take center stage. Many college graduates start their new business career with a bang by putting in 60 to 70 hours per week. Their initial and continued efforts are rewarded with raises and promotions but the stress, frustrations, and continued high pressure to perform force them to sacrifice their personal, family, social, and professional lives to gain security in an unsecure environment. Finally, one day they look back over their lives and in retrospect wonder where their lives have gone astray. They are worn out, insecure, and ready to get off the treadmill. This situation is known as “white-collar burnout.” The situation is depicted in Fig. 38-4 as an EC along with our underlying assumptions for the causal relationships. The objective [A] of the young graduate is to have a satisfying life. The graduate feels that he must [B] achieve his life goals and simultaneously [C] meet the necessary conditions of his life. Both requirements (B and C) require that the graduate devotes time, motivation, concentration, effort, and energy to achieve the requirements. Of course, the dilemma then is that there is not enough time to devote time to everything. The underlying assumptions provide the logic. The burnout usually comes when the graduate recognizes the amount of time, energy, etc. devoted to work to the neglect of the other areas in his life. Let’s examine each part of the cloud and this dilemma in more detail, but first let us review some basic TOC concepts and apply them to personal productivity. Once you have read the remainder of this chapter, you should revisit these clouds and assumptions to determine how you are poised to achieve a happy and satisfying life.
FIGURE 38-2 EC template and helpful hints.
FIGURE 38-3 EC and assumptions of the classic dilemma of a college student.
FIGURE 38-4 EC and assumptions of the white-collar burnout dilemma.
Personal Productivity—Establishing Goals, Strategies, Objectives, Action Plans, and Performance Measures
In Fig. 38-5, we present an overview of the facets of one’s life, and how they relate to each other to improve our personal productivity. Our definition of personal productivity is moving towards achieving our life goals. Most individuals are in a firefighting mode, moving from one crisis to another in each facet of their life. To move out of the firefighting mode, you have to identify and use tools that allow you to focus on one or two tasks at a time that move you toward achieving your life goals in that facet. In some instances, you are in a chaotic environment where constant firefighting is the norm. In the TOC vernacular, this is the “What to Change” environment and the direction of “what to change to” provided by the TP helps the individual to determine what is important in your life. You must first find and use tools to move you to a stable environment. You must spend quiet time examining the five facets of your life: personal, family, friends/community, work, and professional. For each facet, a number of dimensions might exist; for example, in the personal facet, you might have goals (or necessary conditions) for physical, mental, and spiritual dimensions. You must decide what is important in each facet and dimension in the short and long term. However, a goal is only a dream unless you develop a plan and schedule for achieving it, then execute the schedule, and control interruptions to ensure task completion. The plan must provide the strategic direction for achieving the goal and supporting objectives and measurements that indicate your progress toward your goal. The plan must link from the strategic direction to the shorter term (tactical objectives) to the day-today activities that make up the operational plan. This operational plan (the “to-do” list) provides the mechanism: “How to Cause the Change?” Each day a “to-do” list of actions should include tasks that move you toward your supporting objectives in each