The German World War II general Erich von Manstein is said to have categorized his officers into four types. The first type, he said, is lazy and stupid. His advice was to leave them alone because they don’t do any harm. The second type is hard-working and clever. He said that they make great officers because they ensure everything runs smoothly. The third group is composed of hardworking idiots. Von Manstein claims that you must immediately get rid of these, as they force everyone around them to perform pointless tasks. The fourth category are officers who are lazy and clever. These, he says, should be your generals.

When i read this it made me wonder how can we apply Eric’s categories to business organisations.

for that, i thought of asking you guys about your opinions. Which type of officers are you or your boss is?

feel free to drop your comments.

Few days ago, MG sent me couple of short stories demonstrating great business practices.

Here’s one of them: 

A little girl was watching her mother prepare a fish for dinner. Her mother cut the head and tail off the fish and then placed it into a baking pan.

The little girl asked her mother why she cut the head and tail off the fish. Her mother thought for a while and then said, “I’ve always done it that way -  that’s how grandma did it.”

Not satisfied with the answer, the little girl went to visit her grandma to find out why she cut the head and tail off the fish before baking it. Grandma thought for a while and replied,
“I don’t know. My mother always did  it that way.”

So the little girl and the grandma went to visit great grandma to find ask if she knew the answer.
Great grandma thought for a while and said:
“Because my baking pan was too small to fit in the whole fish”.

This short story challenges belief systems and assumptions.
It illustrates pointless routine and the need for questioning.

While surfing the net i discovered some cool mind mapping tools like Personal Brain, Xmind and Freemind.

basically, these software are tools to help us visualise the links between ideas or other pieces of information. They can be used for brainstorming, project management, creating Organisation chart and of course mind mapping. Different tools will give you different ways of processing the data,some of them are more visual like Xmind while others focus on the links and the data entered like Personal Brain.

So if you are in project management, workshops and other related fields, it might be worth your time to check them out.

As a starting point, download the free trials and start mapping.
Xmind
Personal Brain

i’m currently working on mapping my mind, will try to post it soon!

(by soon i mean as soon as i can sort my ideas and deal with my demons).

One of the most used examples in project management is “the coffee” one.

3 people working in project management were asked to write down (on a high level) how they would proceed to make a cup of coffee.

Person ‘A’ proposed the following:

• Buy the kettle, the cups, the milk, the sugar, and the coffee.
• Ask what kind of coffee is needed (with or without milk, sugar, etc.) 
• Make the coffee.

Person ‘B’ proposed the following:

• Check the kitchen and see what we already have (Kettle, milk, coffee, etc.).
• Ask what kind of coffee is needed and advise if it is possible based on what we find in the kitchen.
• Make the coffee.

Person ‘C’ proposed the following:

• Ask what kind of coffee I want.
• Check the local coffee shop for availability and price.
• Buy the coffee.

 The end result of all 3 proposals is me having the coffee, but it all comes with complications.

The first one is going for the whole start-up in order to make a cup of coffee. This can be very costly if we do it only for the purpose of one cup. Only chose this solution if you have the money and you are sure more cups will be served later, otherwise you end up losing money.

The second one is going to use what he already has (already paid for) and try to satisfy my needs. If I wanted Skim milk and all he had was normal milk, Person ‘B’ might try to convince me to change my mind and try the other milk. This is a very cost effective way, low risk and usually gets the job done. Worst case might be nuying the skim milk only.

The third person doesn’t have the equipment or the ingredients, so he opted to buy me the coffee form outside. He ‘outsourced’ it so he doesn’t worry much about the equipment and the ingredients. He’s pretty sure as well that the coffee will be good since he’s buying it from a specialised supplier. It’s a great solution for people who need to achieve something outside their field of expertise and a low risk (unless the coffee is really bad).as a stand-alone cup of coffee, this might cost more on the long run.

Bottom line: making a cup of coffee is like working on a project. How would you do it?

Another shared story by MG:

Fred and Mabel were both patients in a mental hospital. One day as they both walked beside the swimming pool, Mabel jumped into the deep end and sank to the bottom. Without a thought for his own safety, Fred jumped in after her, brought her to the surface, hauled her out, gave her the kiss of life and saved her.
 
The next day happened to be Fred’s annual review. He was brought before the hospital board, where the director told him, “Fred, I have some good news and some bad news: the good news is that in light of your heroic act yesterday we consider that you are sane and can be released from this home back into society.
The bad news is, I’m afraid, that Mabel, the patient you saved, shortly afterwards hung herself in the bathroom with the belt from her bathrobe. I’m sorry but she’s dead.”
 
“She didn’t hang herself,” Fred replied ,

“I put her there to dry.”

Things are not always what they seem!