It’s not all that new.
My first boss ever, Lenny Higgins of Higgins Ice Cream, always said ‘Take and Fill a #10 tin with hot soapy water and clean the…”
Lenny had it almost right. The task is very clear, “Clean the…” all the rest are ‘To-Do’s’ which are part of the task. There was no question about who or when, or how much money, Lenny was always looking at YOU, and the time frame was always NOW! and the rate was ridiculously low.
Envision yourself answering the simple question, “What do you want me to do?” Answer it simply and clearly with an acive verb first; Write, Edit, Design, Deliver, Proofread, Draw, Clean. These are the task names.
All the rest, specific instruction, files, money, assignees, due dates, are all details that are appended to the task.
When we start thinking simply about tasks, we can start to build them into a workflow that is predictable, replicable, and transferable.
Higgins Ice Cream is long gone, but some of us still remember the lessons.
-Steve
1 Comment
September 23, 2009 at 2:23 pm
The difference is that requirements are much more clearer and simpler when it comes to cleaning than anything else. Any real task (of any real project) may be the result of vague requirements.