Is it Urgent or is it Important
The urgent versus important decision has often floored me. Working in healthcare a lot, a real lot is important. And an awful lot is urgent. The collapsed patient, the flood upstairs, the angry person on the ward, the emergency surgery…the list can and does go on.
Plus, healthcare is really good in emergencies, the rescuers fly into action and I know because I’ve done that. Working in Coronary Care at the time of thrombolysis - Time is Muscle - was our mantra, and everything else stopped because of that urgency.
Then we go home, feeling great, having achieved and having made a difference - because that’s why we do this job right?
Now, there is nothing wrong with that scenario (or the updated version for your setting). The reason for the urgency and the targets are that they are important, they do matter and they save lives.
Our challenge comes in a couple of formats:
We confound urgent and important as one thing and everything else takes a back seat. That includes a lot of important things, that make a difference over the long term. You won’t see the instant result and the great ego boost from saving cardiac muscle that you do from spending time with a struggling staff member, slowly going over a development plan, or considering how you need to approach a conversation, a meeting or a project.
When that conversation doesn’t occur, or the staff member doesn’t improve - they will at some point in the future impact you. They’ll make a difference in the next urgent situation, or they’ll have ripple effects such as staff leaving or mistakes being made, and those mistakes impacting patients.
Ignoring the important, though potentially less exciting aspects of leading in healthcare comes at a cost. And someday, you’ll be paying for it.
The important work then gets an also important label, and yet still it doesn’t get prioritised, scheduled in the calendar or valued as much as other work.
The influences for this include:
The dominance of government described targets for political gain.
The skew of leadership skills towards the urgent, operational mindset.
The longer-term important work requiring deeper thinking, new ways of working and innovation all of which equals hard work (and everybody is exhausted).
A top-down style of directions that leaves no space for autonomy of practice.
The system as a whole has a role in maintaining the barriers to enabling space for the longer-term important aspects of healthcare leadership. Yet, individuals make up the system, so pulling apart how the system needs to change and what we need to recognise and do as individuals isn’t straightforward.
For example:
Appropriate staffing and support for people doing the work
Letting people do their jobs and not interfering from 3 levels of management
Underuse of leadership development, coaching and mentoring
A struggle with receiving and giving clear and timely feedback
Enabling poor culture and permitting poor behaviours because that person can ‘get shit done’
What then, is the answer? How do we do the urgent (that is probably important) and the important, which includes the work to prevent next week’s urgent problem and take healthcare delivery in the direction it needs to go?
Ask yourself - is this urgent or important?
By reading this blog, you are already on the way. It starts with us getting curious, asking questions and pausing for a moment about the actions that we are doing. Being honest, and challenging yourself on what you’ve always done, or always told yourself. Some things will remain in that urgent and important space and that’s OK. Get acquainted with the Eisenhower Matrix, popularised by Stephen Covey and challenge your thinking.
Does this need to be done by you?
There is nothing more infuriating than being asked to do a job and then several managers coming and doing it as well, asking frequently and checking in. This is not support. This is micro-managing, and a waste of resources. It’s a waste of strategic thinking leaders who can and should be working on the longer term things. To do this well, you need skills in delegating, trust and communication. It builds autonomy and purpose for people.
Set it up for it to work?
What is the meeting schedule during the day - does it allow for those doing the urgent work to be free to do it? What about the time to spend in the important space? Does everyone agree on what’s urgent and what’s important? Do people have the skills, capacity and capability for what thier role and the work in front of them require? Is it playing to their strengths and potential? If not - what is being done to meet that gap or change their role?
Know where the staircase is.
Sometimes, you do have to get down on the dance floor. Or you might need to take a more balcony view. Understanding the difference and how to move between the two spaces will mean better communication and clarity for everyone.
Think about the why and the how.
When the work morphs urgent and important, and your whole to-do list is the same. It’s time to lean back for a second. Consider why you are doing what you are doing. It may be obvious, or it may be challenging. Ask yourself more than once. Go a bit deeper than the first thing that comes to mind. In this episode of the Leadership Lounge, we grapple with this exact challenge and use Simon Sinek, Infinite Game as a way to view the work.
If all else fails - how you do what you do will be what makes the biggest impact and has the most long-lasting effect. How are doing what you are doing and how it is being percieved.
Are you stuck in the urgent and need more time for the important?
Sorting out the difference is one step, wanting to make the change is another, putting it into action in a world and a system that is pushing the other way needs help. That’s the benefit of coaching. Book a call today and let’s get started on working on the important stuff.
