“That’s incorrect,” I rebutted.
“No, it’s not!” Cody protested.
—
This argument erupted during finals week. Cody, our friend Justin, and I were in the library studying for the final exam of our “Self-Leadership” class. Our argument was centered on Stephan Covey’s time management grid.
Earlier in the semester when we covered the topic of time management, our professor, D. Gluck, showed us the time management grid from Covey’s book,Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Essentially, Covey’s time management grid is split into four quadrants to help individuals, “put first things first.”
The first quadrant in Covey’s time management grid is “Urgent-Important.” These are tasks or activities that require immediate attention. D. Gluck explained that a family crisis or health emergency belongs in this quadrant.
The second quadrant in Covey’s time management grid is “Urgent-Not Important.” These are tasks and activities that demand one’s immediate attention, but should not receive it. D. Gluck explained that Facebook posts that read, “SHARE NOW” belong in this quadrant.
The third quadrant in Covey’s time management grid is “Not Urgent-Important.” These are tasks or activities that need to be accomplished, but only after the “Important-Urgent” tasks are completed. D. Gluck explained that social activities belong in this quadrant.
The fourth and final quadrant in Covey’s time management grid is “Not Urgent-Not Important.” These are tasks and activities that should only be done in our free time. D. Gluck explained that binge-watching Netflix belongs in this quadrant. While he argued that Netflix is neither urgent nor important, I think that my friends who had been pestering me to watch Stranger Things that semester would highly disagree. However, this is not the only disagreement regarding Covey’s time management grid. As I mentioned before, Cody and I also had differing views on which quadrant certain tasks and activities belonged.
Our argument began on the eve of our final exam. We were quizzing each other back and forth on content from the study guide. When it was my turn to quiz Cody, I asked him to give me an example of a task or activity that belonged in the “Urgent-Important” quadrant. Instead of repeating one of the examples that D. Gluck shared with us in class, Cody gave me a wisecrack answer.
—
“That’s incorrect,” I rebutted.
“No, it’s not!” Cody protested. Despite his snide answer, it was clear that he was going to defend it.
“Cody,” I responded, trying to reason with my sarcastic friend. “A task or activity that belongs in the ‘Important-Urgent’ quadrant requires our immediate attention. It is a crisis or an emergency; it is something that needs to be dealt with immediately.”
“You don’t think my answer requires immediate attention?” he argued. “You don’t think that it’s a crisis?”
“Sure,” I reluctantly concurred. “However, if there is a question on the final that asks you to give an example of an ‘Important-Urgent’ task or activity, I don’t think D. Gluck is going to accept that answer.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” Cody objected. I sighed.
“I don’t think you’re taking this seriously,” I responded. Cody shrugged.
“We could always ask D. Gluck tomorrow before the final exam,” he suggested.
“You could probably go ask him right now,” Justin chimed in. “I think he’s still in his office.”
D. Gluck often worked in his office in the late afternoon and would encourage students to come by if they had questions. I looked at Cody. Cody looked at me. We needed a mediator.
“Let’s go ask him,” Cody said.
“Let’s go ask him,” I agreed.
The three of us exited the library and walked over to the faculty office building. As we entered, we looked around the corner where D. Gluck’s office was located. We saw that light was on and that the door was open. This was an indicator that the doctor was in. As we approached his office like lawyers going to trial, I saw D. Gluck with his back to the open door and his face to his computer.
“Knock, knock, D. Gluck,” I said as the three of us stepped into our judge’s chambers. D. Gluck quickly turned his chair around to face us as we entered.
“What’s going on, boys?” he asked, appearing alarmed. I do not think D. Gluck was not expecting any of his students to come by his office that day, let alone three of them.
“Question,” Cody began, as the three of us plopped down on the couch across from him. “We were in the library studying for the final exam tomorrow and we were wondering if you could help us settle an argument.”
D. Gluck nodded. “I was actually working on your exam before you came in,” he explained. “What’s the argument?”
“We were talking about Covey’s time management grid,” Cody explained. “Nick asked me to give me an example of a task or activity that belonged in the ‘Urgent-Important’ quadrant…”
“Cody thinks that diarrhea is an acceptable answer for “What belongs in the ‘Urgent-Important’ quadrant,” I interrupted.
“Diarrhea, huh?” D. Gluck repeated. He appeared un-phased by our questions.
“Yes, diarrhea,” Cody answered defensively. “Wouldn’t you say that diarrhea is a health emergency?”
D. Gluck smirked.
“I would say,” he began with a light chuckle. “That anything of the explosive variety would be considered an emergency and therefore belongs in the ‘Important-Urgent’ quadrant.”
“So, you’re telling me,” I clarified. “That you would accept ‘diarrhea’ as an answer on our final exam?”
D Gluck nodded. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Cody giving me a glowing and gloating grin.
“Does that settle your guy’s argument?” D. Gluck asked.
“Yes it does,” Cody responded triumphantly.
“Glad I could help,” D Gluck said, as we stood up to leave. “If that’s all, I am going to finish writing up your exam. I’ll see you three tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow,” we echoed. As we walked out of his office, I heard D. Gluck chuckle again.
“You boys have got my wheels turning,” he called out after us as we left.
I looked back at Cody as we walked back to the library. He had the same stupid smile on his face that he did in D. Gluck’s office.
“Well?” He asked expectantly.
“Well,” I began, taking a moment to swallow my pride before responding. “You were right and I was wrong.”
“You bet I was,” Cody gloated.
“D. Gluck has a good sense of humor, doesn’t he?” Justin said as he held the library door open for us.
“He sure does,” I responded as we entered the library. “He sure does.”
—
When I showed up for the final exam the next day, I heard Cody recounting the events of the previous day to our other classmates.
“Hey, Nick,” he exclaimed, as I walked in. “What’s something that belongs in the ‘Urgent’-Important’ quadrant?”
“Diarrhea,” I said in disgust as I sat down. “Not like it’s going to be on the final,” I mumbled to myself. After spending a few minutes to review my study guide one last time, D. Gluck came in with a stack of exams around his arm. After getting the class’s attention, he gave us some final instruction and wished us a nice winter break.
“One more thing before we begin,” he said with a smirk. “There may or may not be a question regarding three of your classmate’s visit to my office the other day.” With that ambiguity lingering, he passed out the exams and we began. While I do not remember the first two questions, the third question is one I will never forget. It read:
“Which of the following belongs in Stephan Covey’s ‘Urgent-Important’ quadrant?”
- Your Social Life
- Netflix Binge-Watching
- “SHARE NOW” Facebook Posts
- Explosive Diarrhea.
—
Great teachers know that one of the best ways for students to learn concepts is to use stories.
D. Gluck could have simply used generic examples to teach this concept of time management. However, D. Gluck is a great teacher and I think he knew that we would remember this story long after our “Self-Leadership” class was over. So why not use this funny little story as an opportunity to teach leadership?
In the New Testament, Jesus frequently uses short stories to teach Kingdom concepts. These short stories are called parables. He began many of His parables stating, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” (Matthew 13:24-52; 18:21-35; 20-1-16; 22:1-14, New International Version).
Similarly, D. Gluck taught us that day that leadership is like… “Explosive Diarrhea.”
Originally posted on November 30, 2018. Last updated on January 30, 2024.
Nick Chellsen 