Triage

Triage is the work before the work, and it’s a necessity in a fast-moving world.

Figuring out what to work on next is work. And on any given day, it might look like:  

Reading through the message thread to get context.
Diving into the comments and questions.
Jumping into the conversation.
Asking the right questions to understand the needs of the project.
Looking at timelines, due dates, scopes, and budgets (knowing it all will likely change).
Getting enough information to take a first step.
Aggregating, synthesizing, prioritizing.

Understanding the interdependencies.

More and more, before we can get work to work, we first need to triage. 

An idea inspired by Seth Godin’s recent must-read, Song of Significance.

Posted inspired by Seth Godin’s recent, Song of Significance.