When I first heard someone use that expression to describe the culture of the company that I was working in I thought “that’s absolutely right” and it neatly summed up why I was so frustrated.
My efforts to make improvements often fell on very fallow ground. The ideas and the improvements didn’t seem fanciful, and in some cases you could argue that not to change would be madness. But so often the changes, the improvements couldn’t be made to happen. And when I looked at theses instances from the perspective of “too busy to get better”, it was spot on.
I’ve held this idea close ever since. It sits along side covert processes. Those secret and devious and mysterious processes that can derail the best of plans and projects.
“Too busy”, isn’t always an excuse and in fact I have never actually heard anyone seriously put it forward as an intentional way to block a change.
“Too busy” just slides quietly in as one of the realities of the pressurised business environment.
Who can deny it? We can all see people busily working. But again it does go to the heart of what a friend and colleague calls “the busy fool syndrome”, and I think of as both an opportunity and a challenge.
Isn’t it the same as the issue of failing to delegate effectively?
It could involve elements of losing control. In fact it could involve elements of lots of different things. But there is something certain about it. If you remain too busy to get better, you won’t get better. And if you don’t get better, you may not even manage to stay yhe same. Int’s not inconceivable that you may get worse.
