Escaping the Time Trap

Management by Crisis

Causes	Solutions
1. Unaware of im­portance 沒有意識到事情的重要性（沒有把最重要的事情擺在首位）	Take time log of crises. Analyze source, causes, seriousness, controllable factors.
2. Failure to antici­pate problems and to develop contingency plans（沒有去預見問題並預先準備好應急方案）	Expect the unexpected. Ask what can go wrong. (Murphy's Third Law: If anything can go wrong, it will.) List potential prob­lems. Categorize by seriousness and proba­bility, then develop steps to prevent if possible, or to limit consequences if not.
3. Overreaction (treating prob­lems as crises) 反應過於強烈（把出現的問題看得太過嚴重）	Limit your response by (a) ignoring problems which can be ignored; (b) delegating all those which others can handle; (c) handling only those which you alone can take care of.
4. Fire fighting	Recognize that it is more important to prevent new fires from developing than to spend all your time putting out old ones. Preventive action is preferable to remedial.
5. Procrastination 拖延！	Recognize danger inherent in putting off key actions: leads to deadline pressures and often to impaired judgment under stress.
6. Unrealistic time estimates 不切實際的時間估計（過於樂觀？）	Recognize that everything takes longer than you think it will (Murphy's Second Law). Analyze characteristic underestimates, then add appropriate cushion to all critical esti­mates, at least 20 percent.
7. Mechanical breakdown/ human error 機械故障/意外錯誤	Anticipate. Organize resources (human and otherwise) for rapid adjustments to com­pensate most effectively. Back up your com­puter files and your databases. Install a utilities program to detect and repair com­puter errors before they cause crises.
8. Reluctance of staff to break bad news	Develop philosophy of mistakes (learning process). Discuss; emphasize that fast re­porting of bad news will help prevent crises.
9. Overreaction en­gendered by VIP request	Find out what really is wanted, by whom, when it really is needed, and how it will be used. Are there any alternatives?
10. Failure to estab­lish controls	Timeline all major projects. Establish check­points at intervals to confirm targets are being met.

 摘自  《The Time Trap》