The 80/20 Librarian: Focusing on the 20% that matters

I’m focusing today’s post on the Manager from the E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.

The Manager is the one that handles matters through the paradigm of what is practical and what is realistic. Theoretical constructs do not usually apply to this work perspective as they are the domain of the Entrepreneur work personality which will be the focus of another post.

Seeking order through creating organized, reliable, and predictable work flow systems is the role I envision the Manager playing under Gerber’s definition.

For clarity I will quote Gerber as follows from page 26 of E-Myth Revisited:

“The Manager creates neat, orderly rows of things. The Entrepreneur creates the things the Manager puts in rows. The Manager is the one who runs after the Entrepreneur to clean up the mess. Without the Entrepreneur there would be no mess to clean up. Without the Manager , there could be no business, no society. Without the Entrepreneur , there would be no innovation.”

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Earlier in the month, I was reflecting on Michael Gerber’s thoughts on the 3 different work perspectives. The Technician is the one I’ll address in this post.

To me the technician is the implementer of an organization’s vision. That is to say the person who actually does the work on the front lines. This person more often than not is a “doer” rather than a “thinker”.

As Gerber points out in E-Myth Revisited on page 27, “The technician isn’t interested in ideas; he’s interested in “how to do it.””

While implementation is critical, to first get to the implementation stage you need an organized structure to make sure the work is completed properly. You also need to articulate a guiding vision to ignite passion in the work in the first place and to direct energy/resources to achieve an overarching goal. The next posts will focus on the Manager work perspective and then the Entrepreneur work perspective.

Looking at E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber in which three different work personalities of Entrepreneur, Manager, and Technician are presented. I believe all three perspectives are needed for success and want to make this the content for future posts.

Enjoyed this quote on Passion from Michael Gerber’s E Myth Mastery:

“Passion is the fuel that drives an enterprise forward. The passion to invent. The passion to create value. The passion to build something that has a life of its own. The passion to lead, to inspire, to put the pieces of your world together in such a way as to blow people’s minds, not the least of all your own. And most of all, the passion to do something remarkable with your life. It is the connection with this passion that enables a small business owner to move through all of the inevitable external obstacles that get in the way, that, of course, each come with their own set of internal obstacles to be overcome. It is the relationship with this passion that can transform a reluctant entrepreneur into an electrified entrepreneur.”

Was just reading the One Minute Entrepreneur and came across a reference to Wayne Dyer’s philosophy on eagles and ducks.

Ducks tend to get all caught up and rules and regulations creating a lot of mess which prevents them from thinking entrepreneurially to better serve their customer base.

Eagles soar to go above and beyond to serve their customers. They are flexible and malleable in their thinking.

However, organizational leaders need to allow their people to soar like eagles to deliver superior customer service.

As stated in the One Minute Entrepreneur (page 90), “If we want our people to soar like eagles and take care of our customers, we have to create an environment where they can win-where they know that we’re on their side-so they will be empowered to act like they own the place.”

Thinking about what I’m learning through Good to Great and Great by Choice by Jim Collins.

On people Collins says the following:

“In fact, leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with “where” but with “who.” They start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. And they stick with that discipline—first the people, then the direction—no matter how dire the circumstances.” See the article Good to Great for details.

Again on people, Collins notes:

“The good-to-great leaders understood three simple truths. First, if you begin with “who,” rather than “what,” you can more easily adapt to a changing world. If people join the bus primarily because of where it is going, what happens if you get ten miles down the road and you need to change direction? You’ve got a problem. But if people are on the bus because of who else is on the bus, then it’s much easier to change direction: “Hey, I got on this bus because of who else is on it; if we need to change direction to be more successful, fine with me.” Second, if you have the right people on the bus, the problem of how to motivate and manage people largely goes away.  The right people don’t need to be tightly managed or fired up; they will be self-motivated by the inner drive to produce the best results and to be part of creating something great. Third, if you have the wrong people, it doesn’t matter whether you discover the right direction; you still won’t have a great company. Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” See the article First Who-Get the Right People on the Bus.

Three things have been on my mind for June

1. PlayTape. With this product you can, “instantly create roads and rails for toy vehicle play anytime, anywhere!”  I wonder if any children’s librarians would be interested in this.
2. One Minute Manager. Interesting to learn about One Minute Goal Setting, One Minute Praises, and One Minute Reprimands.
3. Mindful Librarianship article by Ellyn Ruhlman. Kenley Neufled is mentioned. I briefly discussed him on a previous post in March concerning the 5 books that I brought with me on vacation.

I’m continuing to reflect on the Essentialist and how we all need to build time for ourselves just to concentrate/focus. I like what McKeown wrote on page 68. Simply put the amount of stimuli and distractions stemming from electronic devices and commitments has banished boredom from our modern world.

“But by abolishing any chance of being bored we have also lost the time we used to have to think and process. Here’s another paradox for you: the faster and busier things get, the more we need to build thinking into our schedule. And the noisier things get, the more we need to build quiet reflection places in which we can truly focus.”

I have reason to believe that finding quiet time is also something that successful leaders do.

In his recent book Tools of Titans author Tim Ferriss cites on page xx that, “More than 80% of the interviewees have some form of daily mindfulness or meditation practice.” On page 213 Tony Robbins, says that, “And, as I’ve always said, there’s no excuse not to do 10 minutes. If you don’t have 10 minutes, you don’t have a life.”

Ferriss goes on to say, “This reminded me of something I’ve heard from many adept meditators (such as Russell Simmons) in various forms: “If you don’t have 20 minutes to delve into yourself through meditation, then that means you really need 2 hours.”

Continuing to take notes on McKeown’s Essentialism.

I like the discussion on page 39 contrasting the Nonessentialist and the Essentialist.

The Nonessentialist feels that they “have to do” everything and consequently surrenders their ability to choose.

The Essentialist comes to act because they, “choose to” and uses their own free will to do what is right for them.

One party acts from a sense of obligation while the other party is passionately choosing to act.

I just stumbled upon this quote on Amazon from a review of The Pigeon Tunnel by John Le Carre, check out what Rosemary P. wrote in October 2016,

“Like sitting in an oak paneled library at dusk with a cherished companion, fire burbling in the grate and a glass of something wonderful within reach–nary an error of grammar within earshot! An absolute delight. A wonderful book that achieves exactly what it’s meant to.”

Wow! Knocked it out of the park! I would definitely pick up the book! Sure beats a typical, “I liked it.”

I find this encouraging to use the imagination to better describe what we find enjoyable about something. Analogy is a good way to do it. Now only to start practicing this in speech and in writing.