There is a famous proverb-‘How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!’
Eat the Elephant One Bite at a Time
Yes, we have all heard the saying, “Eat the elephant one bite at a time” when dealing
with a large task, goal, or project. The first problem with eating an elephant one bite
at a time is that the problem will be in your stomach as a whole piece.So never ever
try to solve the problems as a single shot.
I will drop the elephant analogy for awhile. The real problem with taking it step by
step is that most people lose interest and end up quitting. If they can’t quit at let’s say
a job related task they get so sick of it, they find every reason to get the project killed
by their boss.
Have an Elephant Party
So back to the African village and the villager who has the elephant to eat. How does
one eat an elephant so that it doesn’t go bad and you don’t get sick of it?You hack it
up and have a party. It is pretty simple. You cut up the elephant into big parts. Invite
the whole village over and pass out the parts. Music, some beverages and before
you know it, that elephant is gone. Everyone is happy and you get to move on to the
next elephant, water buffalo, or whatever.
What I am talking about here is breaking a big audacious goal, huge project or a
simply something that just seems overwhelming into big chunks that can be taken on
at the same time. In the information technology world, you call this parallel instead of
serial processes. You have several things running at once, instead of one at a time
each after the other. In addition to breaking the item into big parts, you find others to
help you with it. This might be outsourcing, it might mean finding partners, paying
affiliates, or even bartering your skills for assistance. Getting outside help with these
big chunks will make it go much quicker and you will get the results you wanted while
you still remember why you wanted them.
Practise of the week: Think about your biggest problem and try to split it into the little
pieces.
Quote of the week:Each elephant is different. I would start by deciding the correct
and most efficient way of eating the particular elephant at hand. Your approach of
having an elephant party is a great tool that can save time and use available
resources. The challenge sometimes is when one does not live or have a village
around to invite. When those resources are not available. Therefore as a premise to
your approach I would add, before you get an elephant to eat make sure you have a
village that you can invite to the elephant party.
