I attended a meeting at church today that included 5 adults and 5 boys ranging in ages from 12 to 16. The purpose of the meeting was to get the boys to work on half a dozen tasks. The person who called the meeting spoke the entire time. He spent the bulk of the meeting going through, in detail, each of the tasks and explaining what it would take to complete and how often he’d check in to ensure the tasks were done.
At the end, the leader asked the boys, “Can each of you commit to doing each of these tasks?”
The boys sat there. Finally, the leader, sensing they were confused, said, “Do each of you understand what I’m asking you to do?” Blank stares. The boys were frustrated. The leader was frustrated. Finally, one of the boys spoke up and said, “Can I borrow some paper and a pen to write all this stuff down?”
I see this very scenario at least a few times each year at work and at church. And I’ve seen it with my kids when I overwhelm them with chores around the house.
So the lesson I learned today is to figure out what really needs to get done. You may have a list of 10 items that need attention. But dumping all 10 on a person or group is too much. Pare the list down to the one or two items that must get done. One or two tasks is manageable. I don’t need a paper and pencil to remember one or two tasks.
Sometimes less is more.
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