Sony Management 101 – inbox magic

During my early tenure as a manager at Sony, I found myself obligated to participate in Sony's Management 101 training program. As one might anticipate, the program focused on refining skills to act as a more adept "hall monitor" and mastering the art of safeguarding one's superiors from any complications.

Photo by Egor Myznik on Unsplash

However, there was a bit of gold to be found.  In one segment of the program, I was introduced to one of the most valuable tools I've ever employed as a manager - the "inbox process.  In a bygone era when physical papers, memos, and letters were the norm, your assistant would rendezvous with you once a day after the mail arrived. Together, you would subject each memo to the inbox process. The counsel from my Sony trainers was to categorize incoming memos into one of three distinct piles:

1.  The “A” Pile:  This stack consisted of items that needed immediate attention,

2.  The “B” Pile:  Items that you are unsure if they need your attention or not,

3.  The “C” Pile:  Things that you knew didn’t require your attention or were simply a waste of time.

Once done sorting, you were instructed to take the “B” pile and sort them into “As” or ”Cs” because there is no such thing as an “I don’t know.” Now that you were down to just two piles, the “A” pile that you know you need to do something with, and the “C” pile that you know consists of a bunch of crap that will waste your time and sap the energy from your very soul, the real magic happened.  The instructor said to grab the “C” pile and open the bottom right-hand drawer of your desk. Back in the day, desks often had deep drawers that were used for filing away papers, and drop the “Cs” in!  She said, then go back to you’re A pile and get to work.

Being the inquisitive young manager I was, I asked, “What about the pile building up in my lower right-hand drawer, and what happens if one of the C-memo writers tracks me down and asks about his masterpiece of a memo?”  To which she responded that if C-writer calls, you simply pull the memo out of its (perfectly chronologically ordered pile) and let the writer know you were either 1) going to get right on working on his masterpiece request or 2) have de-prioritized it and would not be able to help.  She went on to say that another benefit of the perfectly chronologically ordered pile of Cs was that every once in a while, you can reach way down into the bottom of the drawer and grab a fistful of the oldest memos and throw them in the trash!  Wow! In one brief moment, I had permission to focus on what mattered!

  Photo by Ujesh Krishnan on Unsplash

 I continue to use this process daily, except now I use it in my digital inbox.  In this digital adaptation, my virtual storage equivalent to the “C” drawer is the "deleted items" folder, and my "A" projects are what’s left in my inbox every morning after deleting dozens of Cs!

 With over three decades of experience in management and leadership, this remains one of the most effective management techniques I've ever used. Go forth, delete, and focus on what matters!