Tony Schwartz on More reflection less action
The two of them had been on the road together for four consecutive weeks. I asked how that felt. "It's brutal," he said. "But it's typical. My boss essentially has no openings on his schedule for the next three months."
Think about that for a moment:
This executive had no times at work when he could just breathe deep and relax for a half hour, nor could he step back after a key meeting and quietly metabolize what had just happened or look forward and muse about strategy. He could not simply wander through his office, talking to people about what they're doing, in order to energize and enrich them, and himself.
t's not possible to move from one activity to the next at blinding speed and be reflective at the same time. The more complex and demanding the work we do, the wider, deeper and longer the perspective we require to do it well. It's almost impossible to do that when we create no white space in our lives.
By wider, I mean taking into account the practical effect an action is likely to have on the full range of people affected by it. By deeper, I mean considering the emotional impact the action is likely to have. And by longer, I mean thinking not just about its immediate consequences, but also its implications over time.
Consider this observation from President Obama, caught on an open mike during a stroll with Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain in 2008:
"The most important thing you need to do [in this job] is to have big chunks of time during the day when all you're doing is thinking."