Email: The Omnipresent Tyrant
Brad Moore
VP Sales, North America at Digital Divide Data | Transforming Tech and Sales with a Caffeine-Fueled Drive for Change
Ever send an email and get a reply so quickly you're startled? You thought it was something that would require a little time to ruminate over, to masticate on, to mull through. Not so much, at least for some email recipients.
How often is such an immediate reply of great value? Of any value? Or is it that the recipient is cleaning her/his inbox, sends a thoughtless and pithy reply, not giving the topic the time & care you intended or hoped for?
Curious: how much email do you get that truly requires an immediate response? Or is it just so much noise, something you really could (SHOULD) ignore most of the time, and set aside a couple times a day to read, respond, and deliberate over, giving consideration to more than the knee-jerk reaction/response that leaps to mind and checks the box as having been handled?
Better question: was it handled well? Could it have been handled more effectively - and efficiently - by giving it more thorough vetting and thought, responding after an hour or 2, or even the next morning? The test here is to look at the number of emails you've responded to this way and had to return to, when a more thoughtful & complete reply an hour later would have been a better option.
It likely comes down to the expectations you've set with those who email you with any regularity. If you respond quickly to everything, there is little likelihood that you're giving anything the due diligence it deserves.
A team member asked me today how I could let an email from my boss go more than a few minutes without a response. It's because I've set the expectation that I'll give thought to all I do, be intentional in the way I spend my time, and be disciplined enough to give everything I do the time and attention it deserves. He was agape, and replied that he didn't think he could make his boss (me) wait like that. I encouraged him to try it and see what happens! I can almost guarantee a happy (happier) ending.
I'm curious about how you would handle this - what changes would you need to make to the way you work, the way you manage your time? Give it a couple weeks of responding only during a couple times through the day. Let me know what results you see.
I equip teams & organizations to resolve technical debt at the project, program and enterprise level.
9 年So on-point Brad! The tyranny of the urgent has made thoughtful contemplation a quaint concept for many. Thinking over-the-horizon to deliver exceptional results means that we're willing to upset the apple cart. Marie Curie, Nancy Wake, Condoleezza Rice, Sigrid Undset. All successful. They're in the Chimera-slaying business, although none of them would describe themselves as such. When we try to give fast answers to deep questions, we get Chimeras (mythical lion-goat-snake beasts). Brad's post dovetails beautifully w/ Daniel's Thinking Fast & Slow and BonnieRobin's "Why do VCs hunt Unicorns yet breed Chimeras?" https://eepurl.com/bCZhFH#V3i15art2 for the full read.
Healthcare Enthusiast and Technology Solution Advisor
9 年Guilty as charged... I always fear that if I don't work out a response right away, the note will get lost. That, unfortunately, at the expense of a more thoughtful communication.
Corp Pre-sales Solutions Specialist - Security at SHI International Corp.
9 年Thanks for the post Brad. I put a 2 - 3 times a day policy for email and communications in effect, for different reasons, about 5 years ago. Mainly, I was experimenting with what the world would be like if nobody had me to grace them with my ready and endless supply of wit and sage wisdom at the drop of a hat. Plus, I like to remind myself from time to time that one day - I will no longer be here. It helps me to keep my importance in perspective in a self-friendly, 'Zen' sort of way. Yours is a different take and I like the reasoning. In the steady stream of 'Unified Communications' - how often do I really give communication (in any format email, post mail, phone calls, messages, texts, IM's, etc.,) the consideration that I should prior to responding? And that's a great question. Thanks again Brad! You just caused me to think!