Busy v Productivity

I have been hearing the word “busy” thrown around a lot lately.  It seems as if this word is very over used, whether I am hearing the word in general conversations, related to work, regarding personal lives, etc.  “You are so busy.”  “I am so busy that I do not have time for…”  “I like to keep busy.”  “They are really keeping me busy.”  I am sure that you can add a phrase or two to this list.  I do remember when I first started working, the term “busy work” was used.  This was not used as a positive term and signified giving somebody work so that they were occupied – a fancy phrase for shuffling paper. 

Does being busy mean that there is some type of result or output?  Or does “busy” mean the “busy work” of my past?  I decided that I should check with the dictionary and get a definition for the word “busy”.  Merriam-Webster defines “busy” as “engaged in action…full of activity.”  OK – between working fulltime, being president of a synagogue, being involved in my family, music, social life, etc., I can easily say that I fit the definition for “busy”.  Earlier in my career, I remember working with people who worked 9 to 5, knew the nightly television schedule, slept late on weekends and seemed to have no free time.  They said they were too busy for anything else.  This was while I was working fulltime, going to school at night and planning a wedding – who had time for television every night?

A number of years ago, I was introduced at work to Agile project management.  Not to go into details, but one of the methods they taught us was to set two-week goals and define the tasks that you can complete within that timeframe.  2 weeks = 80 working hours – time for meetings – time for “fire drills”.  That means that one’s productive time is probably closer to 50 hours a week.  I used to sit in the planning session and the participants would minimize the time for each task and load up the activities; in other words, they wanted to look busy.  The problem is that nothing would finish and they were not productive.

Merriam-Webster’s definition of “productive” is “Yielding results, benefits or profit.”

There is the old saying in geometry, all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.  The basic definition of a rectangle is that opposite sides are parallel, the same length and it has only right angles.  A square’s definition is the same, with the only difference that the length of all sides is the same; so, by definition all squares are rectangles.  Using the same thinking, productive people can be busy, but not all busy people are productive.  So, if I go back to my busy list – am I being productive? 

·         Fulltime Work – Am I adding value to the company I work for and my clients?

·         Synagogue President – Are there results / new initiatives generated?

·         Family – Is the time spent together meaningful (quality over quantity) and will create lasting memories?

These are the questions that we all should be asking to make sure that we all live up to the potentials that we have each been given in order to best utilize our time while walking this planet (or any future planet).  I am thinking that we should minimize our use of the word “busy” and increase the use of the word “productive”.  This way, when someone talks about their output, we know that they are filling their time meaningfully and not just shuffling paper.

Is Your Power of Attorney Valid?

Legalzoom defines the Power of Attorney as “A power of attorney is a document you can use to appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf. The person you designate is called an ‘attorney-in-fact.’ The appointment can be effective immediately or can become effective only if you are unable to make decisions on your own.”

Makes sense, right?  If I become incapacitated for any reason, my bills still need to be paid, the world continues to move forward, and life continues around me.  I should be able to appoint, or better said, legally select someone to handle my financial affairs.  What if the time comes to execute the Power of Attorney and even though you have a 100% legal document, that you have prepared in conjunction with a lawyer and yet was deemed not acceptable?  Wait a minute, I did use the words legal and lawyer, so all would assume that this is a legit process.

Guess again, as banks may not accept the valid, state approved, legal document you are bringing to them.

Case in point – my aunt in Florida recently went into hospice care, which meant that the legal document appointing me her power of attorney went into effect.  I called up her bank to find out the proper process on how to handle this process.  I was clearly told to bring in the document, they will make a copy and then I will have to sign some papers.  I asked if my aunt would be needed and was told no, I could do this on my own.  When I went to the bank, they told me that they would make a copy of my legal document and have their lawyers review it and get back to me.  They got back to me saying that the document was no good as it was over 10 years old and my aunt would have to come into the bank.  I immediately called our local Florida lawyer who told me that the laws changed in 2011, but all pre-existing POA were still legally, 100% valid, as stated below in the Florida law (http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0709/0709.html)

709.2106 Validity of power of attorney.—

(1) A power of attorney executed on or after October 1, 2011, is valid if its execution complies with s. 709.2105.

(2) A power of attorney executed before October 1, 2011, is valid if its execution complied with the law of this state at the time of execution.

Actions that could be taken:

• Lawyer sends a letter to the bank contesting their decision – That means that there is some confrontation and the resolution could extend beyond the ill or incapacitated person’s life.
• Go to the bank and sign their documents – That means bringing the ill person to the bank, in my case, leaving the safety of hospice care.  At no point did the bank offer to come to us (5-minute drive).  Quickest resolution, based on the effect on my fragile aunt and person-we-needed-to-see’s lack of compassion, was not an experience I wish to replicate (my aunt’s final “field trip”).
• Rewrite the Power of Attorney document – That means draft a current legal document that complies with the newer laws.  For a healthy individual, this is a good option; however, when terminally ill and time is of the essence, this may not be the best option; also you are not ensured that the bank will accept.
• Talk to the bank when healthy – That means making sure the bank accepts all relevant documents, and where necessary, see if they can set up their “long form” POA now.  Lesson learned, but neither discussed nor advertised at the banks.

Interestingly enough, the New York Times had a related article entitled “Finding Out Your Power of Attorney is Powerless” (//www.nytimes.com/2016/05/10/health/finding-out-your-power-of-attorney-is-powerless.html?emc=eta1).  The article hinges on the banks’ arguments for their position on the concern of “the financial exploitation of older adults.”  OK, I get that.  In my case, I am more concerned about the well being of my aunt, the ability to pay her bills and, truth be told, would rather have her continuing to live than her money.

I write this to tell of my experience, to pass on what I have learned, and to provide a forum to discuss this issue.  When faced with end of life situations, we all hope to rely upon the mechanism put in place to protect our loved ones and us. 

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

Wayne, stay.

In the work place, what is one of the reasons we make changes?  To keep current - current with best practices, current with technology, and current with new thinking.  When Bob Dylan sang about “The Times They Are A-Changing,” his commentary was mostly social in aspect and highlighted the gap that existed between generations, the events over the past 15 years in the business world (globalization, Sarbanes-Oxley, mobility, etc.) have had a lasting impact on the work that we do.  As we get older, which is something we have to recognize, the actions we take, the thinking that we do and our interactions with others (i.e., social media), can easily broadcast what age category we belong to.  The fact of the matter is, this is true not only at work, but in our home lives as well.  Which brings me to the question, can you teach an old dog new tricks?

When we were younger, we were good at learning and using what we learned.  Let’s face it, after we graduate school and start working in earnest, we are still in a mode where we are happy to listen to others and take on the things that we need to know to move forward in life.  Same thing goes for outside the workplace as we begin to “move out” from our parent’s house and begin living life as an taking on bigger responsibilities.  Over time, we develop the habits that will carry us forward.  If we are diligent and focused, the habits, for the most part, will be positive.  If not, we will establish bad habits (including our vices).  To use a tree as an example, as a sapling, the young tree is flexible and able to bend with the breeze.  As the tree ages, its trunk thickens, becomes less flexible and is more likely during a windy storm to fall over.  We took a hike recently and noticed all of the big trees on their sides, not so the saplings.  As we gain in years, we become more fixed on what we do and tend not to be as flexible, both physically and in our actions.  For me, I have spent the past 17 years thinking in terms of project management, where projects tend to last months, have a beginning, a middle and an end.  At home, I leave all my work habits in the office, and have different ways of approaching things, with many beginnings, some middles and less ends.

In the last 20 years, technology has changed drastically and the incremental advances occur more quickly.  Some of the strategies in the workplace have changed.  17 years ago, for example, I was introduced to Rapid Application Development (RAD) to speed up development and to shift time from planning activities to iterative development.  Many years ago, I attended a Project Management training class where they showed a movie, which had a huge impact on how I approached projects.  The movie was called the 4-hour House (http://network.projectmanagers.net/video/4-hour-house-short) and it showed the importance of taking the time to plan-out projects before actually starting (even included a practice / UAT process).  Due to the planning efforts, the house finished under schedule and set a world record.  Today, Agile Management has changed the focus from planning to providing small incremental deliverables and has been adopted by many businesses.  In fact, a friend of mine who is a certified SCRUM Master, says the practices are adaptable in her activities outside of work.  New practices, new ideas, and new thoughts.  I am not ready to become “one o’ dem ole guys” quite yet.  Short planning and deliverable cycles are a philosophy that I can leverage at work and at home!  Here’s to this old dog happily learning new tricks…