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Brain Games - Multi-tasking
By: Mac Date: January 3, 2012, 3:44 pm
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[glow=red,2,300]Brain Games – Multi-tasking[/glow]
This is more about my current work situation, than techie geeky
stuff...
At work, the subject of Multi-tasking has taken on many faces
and perspectives as the idea of it has evolved over time.
Honestly I don’t know the official stance of the company’s
philosophy today. Doesn’t matter. It comes down to individual
capabilities. As I get older I believe it’s impossible to
multi-task well, as if at all. I guess everybody has their
opinion on what multi-tasking is. I know an awful lot of people
who think they can do it. The core skill though is doing those
tasks fully and well. The younger generation in particular think
they have the skill down pat.
(grin)
A real issue I’m facing now is my co-worker/mentor. He swears he
is good at multi-tasking. I swear he is not. He is good at his
job and what he does, but when it comes to collaborating with
others, the communication diminishes quickly. He does not have a
good way of transferring that knowledge and unfortunately I am
the recipient of this chaotic mess. I am to learn from scratch
the skills and knowledge he knows. He tells me I need to come
over several times a day and shoot him questions. This is his
idea of teaching me. I’ve got a million questions, but isn’t
this wasting my time and his? The kicker is that his
multi-tasking skills involve me asking him those questions while
he literally is writing text or engaging in virtual meetings.
You can see my frustration with this kind of ‘teaching’.
So recently the National Geographic channel broadcast Brain
Games
HTML http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/brain-games/.
If you go to ‘Attention’ and then watch videos, part of the
presentation is there.
A fascinating look at how our brains perceive things. One
segment in particular was on multi-tasking and looking at our
short term memory. The theory was individual were good for 5-7
things. Numbers, events, words, etc. But reality is, it’s even
less. 2-4 things.
They had on this individual who was rock solid in his belief he
does multi-tasking very well. So the scientist wanted to explore
this. They set up tests and put this guy through them. He was
destroyed. Failed miserably just like most of us would. Our
brains are linear or serial. We are limited to the information
that comes in. We process things one at a time and switch focus.
We cannot receive and do multiple things at the same time. Our
brain breaks it up into individual linear items and just
switches around.
Which leads me to the core problem. How to deal with my mentor
and overcome the inadequacies he brings to the table. Currently
his job has turned him into a fireman. He puts out 20 different
fires throughout the day. He is good at this. Those fires
require only a small amount of his time and not related to one
another. My being taught skills while this is going on is a
completely different issue.
He has nothing to fear. I have my career to think about. His
teaching methods suck… at least for me. His personality is
another obstacle. He is arrogant and impatient. I can actually
handle this on a casual level. I let it roll off my shoulders.
But in a working environment, I cannot. I need his knowledge to
move forward. The way I see it, I am destined to fail while
getting an ulcer.
I’m trying to figure out the best possible way of making this
successful. I’m on board with learning and getting this down.
But I have to figure out how to deal with this kind of
individual and benefit from him.
So far these past few months, I’m either digging into new
territory, or sitting on my hands… waiting… to learn. I whole
heartedly believe in asking questions. I will, but I will get to
a tipping point of no longer knowing what to ask. This is not
learning well.
2012 will be interesting.
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