We are not beasts of burden.
Surely we’ve all said — or just felt in our bones — the old saw, “So much to do, so little time.” It can even be a good thing to have such a full plate.
But what happens when our work morphs into “TOO much to do, TOO little time”?
This situation might seem worse today than ever, but the condition is an old one. In fact, dealing with this sort of “overburden” (muri in Japanese) is one of the main pillars of the Toyota Production System, which has slowly but surely taken Toyota to the top of the global automotive industry.
Consider this assessment of overburden, from a site dedicated to enterprise software development:
As long as people work crazy hours, and as long as projects and teams are overwhelmed by the amount of work, the removal of waste alone is ineffective. Waste is likely to creep back in unless we limit the amount of work to the capacity and capabilities of the organization. Let’s assume you try to eliminate defects but the project still suffers from overburden. Chances are that quality problems reappear since the project members still feel pressured and are overworked. In fact, overburden is a major source of waste such as work-in-process, waiting and delays, task-switching and defects.
In crunch times, people can often pull an extra shift, work through weekends, or what-have-you. And I won’t deny that there are good reasons why, for instance, people in software startups tend to work all the time.
But what about most of the time, for most of us? It shouldn’t be this way. We’re not wired for such strain.
I’ll share my two-part hypothesis with you:
- Individuals who suffer from chronic overburden aren’t managing themselves well. (I know — I’ve done this.)
- Companies that suffer from chronic overburden aren’t managing themselves well. (I’ve seen this one from the inside, too.)
Don’t get me wrong: good things come to those who hustle, especially in hard times. Please go ahead and work hard, and demand the same from others in your organization.
But don’t treat yourself like a beast of burden — and don’t give in to OVERburden.
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Related posts:
- How to succeed in business: the simple version.
- You don’t need better technology.
- Company of the Day: Toyota.
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(Photo by krayker; thanks to Dan Markovitz for pointing me to the link on overburden.)
Category: Management, Productivity
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4 Comments so far
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Wow Tim. I could send this onto to an inordinate amount of people and companies. Well said. I learned years ago that life is about living and quality, not quantity.
“Individuals who suffer from chronic overburden aren’t managing themselves well”
Exactly. Whenever I am overburdened I know that I myself am the only one to place blame, for I’ve had the time to get it done yet have waited until crunch time, and have not taken into consideration that other variables that may effect my time.
Great post as usual Tim
I learned an interesting lesson about crunch time and overwork many years ago. Many times, when it’s past 6, past 7, and you’re pounding away at whatever. .. because it Has To Be Done… Stop. Go home. Rest. Think about something else. Pet the cat; walk the dog.
Tomorrow morning you will be rested and the problem will resolve itself relatively quickly. It may be difficult to believe but often, last night’s impossible-to-solve problem untangles in 10 minutes the next morning.
Also, remember, the longer you work without a break, the more brain-fried and inefficient you are. You make more mistakes). When you overwork you’re doing yourself (and your project) a DISservice.
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