Has anyone ever cleaned your house by mistake?
I used to tell a not-so-true story in my speeches about a landscaper who mowed the wrong yard. I used the story to bring to life the important difference between being efficient and being effective.
Then a few months ago I read the true story of a woman in Charleston, WV who filed a police report that someone had broken into her house...and cleaned it!
I love this. It's better than anything I could ever make up!
In this case, a cleaning service mis-read a house number but was able to enter the wrong home and perpetrate their crime against grime.
IT organizations are no different than a cleaning service. Being effective is more important and valuable than just being efficient. This cleaning service was highly efficient in doing its work, but they were completely ineffective because they worked on the wrong house!
It's the same for IT. Getting the right work done is more important and valuable than simply how the work gets done...just ask the WV homeowner who paid to have her neighbor's house cleaned!
There is little value in being efficient on the wrong tasks.
IT organizations that focus on becoming efficient will definitely get more things done...though not necessarily the right things. And those that become highly effective will get the right things done, though maybe not as efficiently.
But those few IT organizations that know how to focus on both - becoming highly effective and efficient - will get more of the right things done for the business.
What house is IT cleaning in your organization? Is it the right house? How do you know?
So many houses, so little time...
