The Tyranny of the Urgent

As usual, the beginning of the fall semester came in like a whirlwind of confusion and exited like a shudder of resignation. ;- ) Actually, it wasn't that bad, just harried. The greatest challenge of the beginning of the semester is presented by the combination of new faculty and new LARC assistants: the new faculty all have requests and questions, and the new LARC staff have neither skills nor answers! As a result, for about three weeks I have to juggle being all things to all people (trainer, media production specialist, manager, technical support, etc) and yet maintain forward momentum on current projects and initiatives. This is the classic case of the tyranny of the urgent overtaking the important.

I've created the little pyramid diagram below to describe the distribution of tasks during the first week or so of the semester. Much like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs diagram, the tasks at the top of the pyramid cannot be attempted until the demands at the bottom have been satisfied. What is critical to understand in this diagram is that it is the top portion of the pyramid that most excites me about my work as the LARC coordinator and most piques my academic interests. Just like any student, I arrive at the beginning of the fall motivated to start new projects, do new things, and experiment with new applications of technology in the language curriculum, and yet, as soon as I set foot on campus the first day, I must put all of that excitement and enthusiasm on hold while I revisit the most fundamental functions of the LARC with my new student workers. Sometime around the fourth week I try to regain that enthusiasm and pick up where I left off.

I think that this is one of the reasons that it is so difficult to get initiatives and innovations off the ground: just when the creative processes begin to flow together in order to plan for the implementation (two steps forward), the daily maintenance tasks of the lab siphon away the momentum (one step backward).

Someday, I hope to find a better way of balancing the ebb and flow of the beginning of the semester; for now, I should content myself with successfully treading water.

Currently reading: Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People.