Eight Principles of Slow Management (alpha)

As prompted by @brandonschauer, here is a alpha of the minimally viable principles of Slow Management. Looking for feedback with further detail to come in future posts:

**Updated with Edits thanks to @digitalacolyte**

  • Act with the expectation of positive intent
  • Credit is karma–don’t try to control it, but be sure to give it to those who deserve it
  • Talk less and do more–don’t over-explain to be smart
  • Cut down on sources of stimulation
  • Fatigue is the enemy so be fit enough to fight it
  • Develop outside interests and provocations
  • Be engaged and engage others
  • Be open and consistent in communication–to provide context for the future

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Slow is Fast

Sure, Slow Management is about maintaining sanity. It is also about speed. And no, this isn’t a contradiction.

Obviously, it is amazing what you can do when you focus on work and not the dizzing dance of distractions flying about like incontinent dung beetles. I won’t rant and rave about the impact of rampant multitasking–this article should do the trick.

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Update on Email Experiments

I’ve been running two experiments to create the space for greater focus and engagement:

I’m making an adjustment to the Daily email. Colleagues correctly complained that the 4pm email barrage when I finally synched my mail was just delayed dumping. It’s a good point. The idea is not to just hold off on sending email but actually cut back on email and engage in other ways.
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Re-entry Syndrome (Update)

Quick update:

  • 11: Days out of work email contact
  • 95: Number of emails (including cc)
  • 89: Number of emails to me
  • 3: Number of emails that required closer reading
  • 45 minutes: Time to inbox zero

So far, so uneventful.