Managing By Wandering Around...

...It's All Around You!

In 1982 a book called "In Search of Excellence", by Tom Peters and Bob Waterman came out. Even though it was a business book, it made quite a hit in my seminary classes as well. (Way back when, even before it became the standard practice it is today, Ralph Hardee had us reading B books!)

One of the most important lessons of that book then, and still important today, is the idea of MBWA, or Managing by Wandering Around.

With MBWA, "what you see is what you get."

Tom Peters, in his latest book "The Little BIG Things," recently added these thoughts about MBWA:

• Get out of your office!
• Unplug your laptop!
• Put your iPhone/Blackberry in the drawer!
• Chat up anybody whose path you cross...especially if they are not among your normal chatees.
• Go strolling in parts of the organization (or your neighborhood) where you normally don't stroll.
• Slow down.
• Stop.
• Chat.

Put "wandering" on your permanent formal agenda. It may sound counterintuitive, but "aimless wandering" requires strict discipline. We all fall into ruts, even in our wanderings. Same route. Same people. Same time of day. Etc. Etc. Etc. Somehow you've got to introduce spontaneity.

Make a pledge to "just wander" at least a half-hour each day. You'll be amazed at what happens when you come back to the pile of work on your desk or the files open on your screen.

Practice MBWA today!