Polyphasic management
Dwayne came up with this ridiculous, but funny, idea of polyphasic management: (be sure to go read the rest of his post–pretty funny)
3-4 hour blocks of micromanagement interrupted by short periods of inattention. This is in contrast to many traditional (monophasic?) management styles which utilize 3-4 hour blocks of inattention, interrupted by short periods of micromanagement.
Really, though, I feel like a polyphasic manager most of the time. Not like Dwayne’s definition, but more like I give attention to people for short while, then process for a short while, then empty space for a short while, then back to people. Always cycling through various foci of attention. I guess this can be useful, but it often seems counterproductive to me. I often feel like I’m rushing through a particular something-or-other so that I can begin on the next something-or-other. Seems like the dark side of polyphasic management. I guess the good side would be more strategic and less like fire-fighting. (which isn’t to disparage actual fire fighters, who are probably quite strategic in their approach. At least I hope so). Interesting to consider…
While you’re mentioning Merlin, this sounds a lot like the impossible version of his very usefl 10+2*5 hack.
Then there is always the Quadraphasic management technique. It works this way.
1. Phase 1, Morning: You e-mail your boss about an update to a presentation that you will be giving tomorrow. Your communication goes unanswered.
2. Phase 2, Afternoon: Your boss finally opens the e-mail but still does not respond.
3. Phase 4, Evening: Your boss finally pays attention to your e-mail, decides to micromanage it and tries to find your home phone number.
4. Phase 4, Night: Your boss finally finds your home phone number, calls and wakes you up and proceedes to give you a laundry list of changes that need to be made to the presentation by morning. You get no sleep and find yourself super groggy while giving the presentation to board members. It doesn’t go well and you are reprimanded. You sleep the rest of the day in your office.
In the above scenario, Quadraphasic Living may help. I have a post about this lifestyle on my blog for people who may be affected by this!