"Penny Wise and Pound Foolish" was commonly used as a
"backhanded compliment" about "not so smart" folks worrying
about pennies but missing pounds. It mixes modern coinage with the colonial system - yet still makes sense.
What doesn't make sense is what's described in the attached article: You would think the United States Government
would have better things to do than argue SINCE 2009 about buying forks.
What about your workplace - Are your team
members missing the big picture? How can
you lead them to better analytical thinking?
Maybe a "field trip" to clear heads is
in order. Many executives would like to have the ban on evening and weekend
emails, but have no authority to shut it down, per se. If workers - including yourself - don't have
a break from the office, things start to get sloppy. This virtual field trip is free. You could
even say anyone sending email between certain times has to treat everyone to
coffee the following week (a non-pricey but very visible reminder to take a
positive time-out).
There are other ways to refresh a team. Perhaps
a weekly "cake for breakfast" is in order. One of my best teams ever met in my office
and did a check-up Monday mornings. We would start about 30 minutes after
regular starting time and they had permission to be a little late that day. We
shared coffee cake, but if it was a birthday, I would do the extravagant
breakfast purchase (and yes, by request of the birthday employees, it
frequently was actually cake) for a small celebration.
This easing back into the workweek allowed us to
get together and know it was ok to chat for a while about trips and family
gatherings, books we read or a movie we watched with friends. It was management
approved and "required" relaxed time as a team. We all enjoyed it.
Our great and busy boss would even pop in to say hello - and respected it was
NOT the time to drop a project bomb, so he reinforced the positive team
behavior.
Then again, it required forks... But no one
complained about bringing our own. Think
of how to promote smart thinking, fresh minds and a respectful place for
sharing fun things so it's not all about the grindstone.
