Mission creep is what group dynamics folks describe what the rest of us might well call L.O.S.T, or Line Of Sight Tasking (I'm still not sure what we call group dynamics without making our moms cry). At some point in a project, one of the very bright people who came up with the original idea realizes there's yet another function s/he forgot within the transaction and announces 'someone needs to do/be .....'
Of course, the first person who makes eye contact inherits this new responsibility with absolutely no authority or means to accomplish it. Don't look up! Oops, thanks for playing.
It's part of our lives as individuals, as well, fretting in the various roles we each play in the drama. I had a plateful (and more) when it was just me, myself, and I. Falling in love and getting married evolved into me, or us, to egoisme a deux and then we added children to the mix. Solo, spouse, parent, while also being a child, sibling, and wearing a half dozen other hats. You can't tell the players without a scorecard, especially when we each are covering numerous positions.Is there a limit to all this multi-tasking, if that's what this actually is (I like to think that term is better applied to linked tasks vice totally different ones-like a product being both a floor polish and a dessert topping) and when do we reach a limit, how do we know? I remember the 'how to cook a frog in boiling water' semi-urban legend (don't judge; I run with a colorful crowd) that makes me suspect there's no 'top-end.'
In an unrelated conclusion, I've often wondered why so many people insist that frogs' legs taste like chicken not that it ever helps if you wake up with a bullfrog on your mind.
-bill kenny
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