Tarkblog

I think that dentists are model multi-taskers. They run 4 to 6 chairs at a time as well as having to spend a few minutes with each person who is just in getting their teeth cleaned. Think about how much jumping around your dentist does. A lot. And he’s getting things done. And making good money, ta boot.

But that dentist wouldn’t get very far if he didn’t have a handful of assistants getting everything ready for him. He walks in and shakes your hand, but all of the tools he needs are already laid out and ready to go. He just has to think and act. No worries about setup or teardown. That’s how he’s so efficient.

Some days, I feel like that dentist. Granted, I’m in engineering and I don’t have a handful of assistants at my disposal, but I certainly have a good source of tools ready to go. I have things in their places and I’m ready to react as needed. And, a lot of times, I can delegate the other smaller tasks to people who are here for that very reason: to make sure that my time is spent on things that are valuable (such as writing this very blog).

Some days, it’s hard being the dentist and not the assistant. Both are equally important jobs, but the dentist has a lot more on the line. It’s all a risk and reward kind of thing.

Now, if only to find out how to increase the reward without increasing the risk.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 9th, 2006 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Random Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.