The first weekend of Oct was a long weekend for us. So, we took the opportunity for a family get away, making full use of the fabulous spring weather.
The drive was about 3.5hrs – easy cruising. We tend to use the drive time for family chats and games – the old-fashioned ones like ‘I spy’. Sometimes we even come up with new games. We have a strict policy of no electronic devices in the car, so this is what we do to build the family spirit (I know we are in the minority).
One of the games that the boys wanted to play during this trip was called “3 in 5sec”. Each one of us took turns to ask a question such as “name 3 types of xxxxxx (eg. Italian food)” and the next person has 5 sec to answer it. If that person fails, the next one gets an opportunity to play, but cannot repeat any of the answers provided by the previous player.
So, there were questions such as naming capital cities, types of trees, types of movies, car makes, animals etc. Basically, it was up to the ‘quiz master’, to be creative with the categories. If the player was able to provide 3 answers in 5 sec, then they win a point. The one with most points at the time of stopping the game wins. Well, we managed to play it for a good 30-40min.
My older son noticed a correlation between the type of questions being asked and the likelihood of it being answered successfully. He said the narrower the question the better the chance of answering it promptly. The broader the question, the harder it is as the mind struggles to focus, particularly under time pressure. For example, answering the question “name three cities starting with letter D” is harder, than answering “name three cities in Australia starting with the letter D”. It is harder to focus, when there are too many options.
This is true in business as well. The broader the context, the harder it is to manage, control and focus. For example, if your business/site vision for the next three years is broad then developing tactical plans to achieve it is going to be hard. If the scope of an improvement project is broad, then measuring success and tracking progress is near impossible. If you’ve got a big to-do list, you’d struggle to focus compared to highlighting the top three priorities for the day.
It is like trying to pick on the detail of a scenic landscape photograph versus a real close-up macro photograph of a bee sucking nectar from a flower.
So, are you ready to play the 3 in 5sec game? Here we go. Name the top 3 in 5seconds, for each of the questions below for your site:
- worst waste generating products.
- worst downtime machines.
- current quarter’s critical projects.
So, how did you go? Is your site’s performance plan focused or broad?
