I should write this up for my children, even if no one else reads it.
1. Have a computer filing system.
2. Do not fill a fridge, bookshelf, or any storage unit full if you are going to be pulling things out every day. You will not have any reserve space. You will not be able to find what you want. You will spend too much time pulling things out from the back.
3. I will need to add explanations for all these things. Organized people will perceive their utility immediately. But, of course, it would be nice if a disorganized person could benefit from a list such as this. I do have to face the possibility that maybe they cannot. This might fit the paradigm of “The rich get richer.” Very often, maybe almost always, advice is useless to those most in need of it, because they don’t have the wit or will to listen. If you’re a 95 out of 100 in business talent, then if I give you a list of 100 tips, you’ll pull out the 3 that you don’t know already and rise to 98. If you’re a 15, you won’t even read the list, and if you do, you’ll think all 100 tips are dumb, so you stay a 15.
This is why smart people want to work in a smart organization. They face far tougher competition for promotion, but promotion isn’t random, at least, because the boss is smart too.
4. Distinguish between the Urgent and the Important.
5. When something bad happens, don’t let your first instinct be to wonder who to pin the blame on. Many things are nobody’s fault. Many others are somebody’s fault, but it is almost never the case that the first step towards addressing a problem is to hold a trial to figure out who to punish. That may well be something to do– but only once the problem is addressed. Otherwise, the problem gets worse while you’re bickering or setting up your defences for the war.
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