When is routine a good thing, and when is it dysfunctional?

When is routine a good thing, and when is it dysfunctional?

Routine can be a good thing. People are creatures of habit and “You are what you repeatedly do” as the saying goes. To add weight to this theoretical benefit of repetition “success is a journey not a destination”. However trapped in “we’ve always done it this way” and repeating cycles, roles, circumstances can constrain us. Madness is “expecting change, yet doing the same things”

My story

I am a creature of routine: as a triathlete I have my training routine; at work I have my daily routine and at home I have a domestic routine. Like everybody else it makes my life predictable and manageable, but I do like deviations, holidays, distractions and occasional surprises.

However with all these things we need to keep the objective in mind and be flexible. If I am training for a long-distance triathlon and I feel really tired, maybe that day should be a rest-day. If I am at work and a crisis happens, then maybe I need to re-prioritise and reschedule a bit. What is important is the outcome, not the process and flexibility along the way is essential.

Now this may all be very obvious. Indeed everything I have ever experienced in projects, management and change is obvious. So guess my surprise when this morning when driving to work after significant rain and much flooding I saw some contract gardeners watering the sodden flower beds along the side of the road.

What is the problem here?

I realise it is August and they possibly had scheduled Tuesday to water the flowers. However shouldn’t common sense kick-in and suggest that there may be other things of higher priority now that the circumstances have changed? Watering the plants after flooding just isn’t adding value to the outcome is it?

What lessons can we learn?

Of course this probably isn’t the fault of the gardener. This is the fault of systems and management which operate unthinkingly and without the flexibility to respond to circumstances. What do we need to do to make systems and management work better?

1. Manage the outcomes, not the tasks.
2. Allow people flexibility to achieve the outcomes according to circumstance.
3. Balance routine with random to accommodate both to best effect


THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . He is Programme Manager for the commercialization of Jersey Harbours and Jersey Airport, and previously Operations Change and Sales Support for RBSI/NatWest, and Project Manager for the Incorporation of Jersey Post. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses. He is a Chartered Member of the British Computer Society, has an MBA (Management Consultancy) and is both a PRINCE2 and Change Management Practitioner.

Tim HJ Rogers
PRINCE2 - MBA (Consultancy) - APMG Change Practitioner
www.timhjrogers.com | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype @timhjrogers | Mobile: 07797762051
Curator TEDxStHelier www.TEDxStHelier.com
Founder ciChange www.ciChange.org