Selective Burning

Sometimes, the processes we think are supporting us, are actually holding us back.

This play works when:

• You're struggling to find time to work on things that truly matter
• You're going through the motions, wondering if you're really adding value
• Precious time to work on important things is being consumed by other tasks

How to Play

Inspired by Dr Lyla June Johnston's talk about indigenous wisdom, this play is all about protecting what matters.

Step 1

Think of repeated task, process or part of your job that you don't have enough time for.

This is often work that falls in the Important but Not Urgent area of the Eisenhower Matrix. It is often the more creative work we have to do, but never find time for. Such as:

• Coming up with a new employee review process
• Having discussions about next year's marketing strategy
• Designing that new customer onboarding flow you've been putting off

Step 2

Now you know what you're protecting, try to identify 3 common tasks that don't add value directly, but take up a lot of you or your team's time each week.

• Do you have regular progress meetings?
• Is time spent briefing and re-briefing each other on what's happening?
• Do you do time consuming and repetitive work like scheduling social posts?

Try to think of times where you or your team seem checked out, or absent minded. Times where people are itching to get back to their "real" work.

Step 3

Burn it!

Well, start small, and, talk to other people involved first.

If it's a weekly group meeting - raise the suggestion that you pause it for a month and see if anyone really notices. Can that meeting be replaced with a quick Teams update or email?

If it's time spent explaining things to each other - is there an opportunity for a shared document or workspace to hold this information instead?

For repetitive work, is there a way you can use templates to copy and paste, find tools to help automate the process, or delegate to an intern or apprentice?

Chances are, your colleagues will jump at the chance to experiment with dropping admin work in favour of getting more time back.

Explain that you're trying to protect important value-added work, to emphasise the need to reallocate time like this.

Why it Works

Often, we prioritise short term over long term benefit.

Many routine tasks like meetings, briefings or scheduling have a perceived benefit. Clarity, data, consistency.

But short term benefit like this is only part of the picture, and it doesn't really create lasting positive change. Are you really going to remember these meetings a year from now? Will it have brought you closer to your goals?

Finding ways to reduce the burden of these routine tasks frees up more time for creative work that leads to real positive changes. Creative work that may not be urgent, but is nonetheless important.

Use it to

• Find more time for value added work
• Not just for you, but for your team too
• Protect the work that will truly drive change in the next 1-2 years