TouchPoints: Why the Interruptions That Drive Us Crazy Just Might Be the Most Productive Opportunities We Have Every Day

"Some days it feels like the information age has morphed into the interruption age. But what if those interruptions turned out to be our best opportunity to make a difference in our workplaces? As leaders, we make choices all day, every day. The "knock on the door" happens over and over again in some form – phone calls, meetings, emails, and text messages with questions to answer, concerns to address, problems to solve, and fires to put out. There are big issues and small issues, planned sessions and surprises, and they come at us endlessly and from every direction. We have to make decisions without having all the available information, and we need to make them right now. The workload is expanding, and the time we have to deal with each issue is shrinking. But what if we could step back and look at all those interactions with a fresh perspective? What if, instead of seeing them as interfering with our work, we were to look at them as latent leadership moments? What if these moments were the answer to transformational leadership in today's busy world?"