Tech Manager—Manager Myopia
When I was about 20 years old, I started working on a drafting board as a draftsman and technical illustrator back in the day, before computers helped get the job done. Soon I needed glasses as my distance vision started getting fuzzy. I could see close-up, but not down the road. Myopia is the technical term for being nearsighted; also called short sightedness. It is a condition of the eye that causes close objects to appear clearly, but things that are farther away are fuzzy. I have this condition and on my driver’s license the little box is checked that says I must wear corrective lenses to help me see objects that are far away.
The Tech Manager, while needing to work on the immediate needs of staff and tech, can become overly shortsighted. While things appear clear for them in the short-term, longer-term issues and planning seem to not come as easily. It is easy to get trapped in the daily grind of issues and troubles that come at you from every angle. There are challenges to finding the time and brain power to look into the future.
I have written on Strategic Planning and a lot of skills needed for thinking long-term are defined in those articles. Those articles presented a more formal process, but this article will be more about the informal and the mindset or framework that must be in place to make sure that you are balancing the tyranny of the urgent, while also keeping in mind the need of having a view of the broader scopes and longer timelines. Let’s take a quick look at how we can encourage ourselves to have a better view into the distance.
Think About It
The first thing needed might be just more time to think long-term. If you are caught in the cycle of running from one fire to the next, you have little time to look down the road. I know that things can pile on, but there will be opportunities to take a brain break and just think about what might be possible. It could be a lunchtime walk or getting up a little earlier. It might be the drive to and from work. If you are trapped by your calendar, then use it to plan in some thinking time. Make an appointment with yourself and keep it. You may want to downgrade your meeting requests by shorting the meetings you have by 15 or 30 minutes. Recapture the time and use it to think. Google has a culture that encourages employees to spend 20% of their time on something outside their regular job duties. While most of us could never take that much time, maybe start with two percent. That is just about one hour per workweek that you could set aside to step out of your usual duties and think about what might improve your firm, your processes or yourself.
Get Corrective Lenses
Ask others for input. Without advisors, even the greatest planners and doers get into trouble. The corrective lenses of seeing things from another person’s perspective can bring clarity. Start talking to others and get their feedback. Ask them what they think of the next tech innovation. Attend a tradeshow or event and listen to what others are doing and predicting. Read more. Input from others, who are also long-term thinkers, can expand your understanding and make the blurry future a little clearer.
Let your Vision Rest
Just like when your eyes are strained it get harder to focus, your management focus can become blurry if it is overworked. Take some time to rest your long-term efforts and let them stew a little. There is always some wisdom in “sleeping on it”. Letting some time pass when you do not actively work on seeing the future, but let it unfold a little more before making a move. I have set aside plans and, during that down time, come up with a clearer vision of what should be done. Sometimes you just need to let the marinade work itself into the meat.
Look at the Distant Horizon
Just like avoiding eye strain, you need to extend your focus beyond your desktop. You may follow the American Association of Ophthalmology’s 20-20-20 rule when you feel that you have been staring at your monitor too long. It suggests that you take a 20-second break to look at something 20 feet away every 20 minutes. I usually look out the window and focus even farther away. I can tell when I don’t give myself a visual break and at the end of the day my distance vision is kind of blurry.
In the workplace, it can mean that you remind yourself to think farther out. If the solution you have to a problem will work for the next week, pause and think about what it would look like in a month. If the software upgrade will solve this month’s problems, pause and think about what it will be like in a year. If the hardware is good enough for a year or two, look to see what the cost would be for something that will last even longer. Keep pushing your time horizon and thinking out.
Push out the scope and impact also. When thinking of a change, think about what it would mean if everyone in the firm did this. What might work good for a small team may not expand well to everyone. Or maybe the transition for the most adept workings will slow for those who need more training. Think about what would happen if everyone started this or stopped that. It might make you think a little more.
By always expanding your timelines, impacts, areas of concern and planning out beyond the near term, you can start having a better grasp on the needed focus for good long-term thinking. You must take care of the day to day, but it is always a balance between the immediate and the farther reach of your oversight.
