Sunday, June 19, 2011

Multi tasking v/s multi focusing


I did search on Google for "multi task and multi focus" and got About 10,600,000 results (0.23 seconds) .........
We have 15 billion brain cells connected with circuit structure equals to thousands of cities. My ear can hear 1600 different frequencies, ranging from 20 to 20000 cycles per second. My eyes can detect a single photon of light and the 80000 fibers in each of my optic nerves transmit info from 132 million rods & cones to my brain. more than 300 million air sacs in my lungs provide oxygen to the 100 trillion cells throughout body. my 206 bones and 656 muscles form much diverse but still coordinated machine ever made..............AND HOW CAN EVER IMAGINE AND ACCEPT THE FACT I CAN NOT DO MORE THAN 1 TASK..................RIDICULOUS.
D.......something is wrong with this understanding.......
I do understand this is conclusion based on lot research by lot of organisation and lot of great scholars...............but still......
.......Something is missing.......
Let me jump one more thing which i believe key factor ..............or reason ...........why i believe malti tasking is very viable.............CATEGORISATION.
How you categorise your task/goals/people/place/experiences/situations/emotions/objects/results/failure/etc/etc into a common bucket............. how you categorise these.........and very important how you un-categorise the same..............and than re-categorise the same.
In a very simple situation........... you are on a long drive to a vacation destination........
1. Your driving on high way.
2. You are engaged in conversation with your wife.
3. Your eye is on the rear view mirror for the vehicle coming behind.
4. Your eye is on left mirror for the vehicles over taking.
5. Your eye is on the right mirror for probable surprises.
6. Your keeping eye through rear view mirror on activities of your children in back seat.
7. Your also keeping watch for next coffee shop.
8. Thinking about the hotel you will be chking in.
9. Thinking of the plan for the day once you reach the destination.
10. listening to your wife.
11. listening to the music in the car.
12. listening horn sound out side.
13. sensing something wrong with A/c leading to low temperature.
14. etc
15. etc
You are doing all this to ensure you " have great time with family". Your NOT DOING "driving"........you are DOING "have great time with family".
I am sure lot of above would have been disturbance for the driver if you have hired a driver . His assumed expectation is to DO the "driving".
What is the point!?
difference is categorisation.............in first instance person is focused on " have great time with family" all other tasks including driving form part of this vision or goal. While in later case............driving by itself is the focus.
I believe it works in both office and other personal environment as well.
If the team is aligned to a vision, a goal or a common object than it will impossible for them to feel .............. handling a meeting, a customer call, priority of operation , escalation from management..........as multi task. rather is will be for a purpose of achieving common goal.
It is very important to create common goal in life................this is key to give work-life balance......
You will no longer see your personal life and office life as mutually exclusive as you see both stream on inter connected and inter related to achieve that common goal.
If you think about it........... every task is a muti task if you break it into sub tasks. It is once bias and language...............which make certain task sound like single task.
What do you think?


Harish B K (हरीश, 海瑞士 , ハリッシュ)
Mobile:+91 9845438231
http://harishbk.com
"Keep Doing............"