Before you read this page, it's worth reminding ourselves of some principles behind the TM4T method.
We need to differentiate between an organisations' operations - its primary activity - and its projects and disruptions; you can remind yourself more about these here.
In Business, there is a metaphor which is useful in discussing primary activity, distractions and obsession. The metaphor of swamps and alligators involves a pioneer team tasked with laying a railroad across an alligator-infested swamp.
In our vocabulary 'building a railroad' is the primary activity, while the secondary activities are swamp-draining and alligator-shooting.
This metaphor is based on a paradox. In order to achieve the primary objective (building a railway) the team have to achieve a secondary objective (draining the swamp). This, then, is what they should surely focus on. However, if the team are obsessed with draining the swamp, they risk alligator attack. So, should they focus on shooting alligators? Well, alligator-shooting doesn't help to achieve the primary objective, though it may be more exciting than swamp-draining. What should the team do?
It seems clear that you cannot deploy a construction team in a swamp without dealing with the alligators, but if you can drain the swamp, the problem of the alligators goes away. However, you cannot concentrate on draining the swamp - or building a railroad - if you are about to be bitten by an alligator.
This metaphor is often used to highlight illogical management intervention:
"We spend too much time shooting alligators and not enough time draining swamps" suggests a management team being distracted from its goal. "It's hard to drain a swamp when you're up to your neck in alligators" suggests that management are obsessed with longer-term benefit while ignoring the day-to-day challenges.
I hope it is clear how this metaphor applies to teaching and time-management: whatever you do in school, you should be clear which activities contribute to your primary aim, and which of your secondary activities represent draining swamps. You should only shoot alligators if you really have to...
Many teachers will recognise that a great amount of their time is spent shooting alligators. Discussions and debates with management; long parental phone-calls, repairing faulty equipment, dealing with minor discipline infringements - these may all fall into the category of shooting alligators: necessary, yes; valuable, maybe: but not always directly contributing to the overall goal of the organisation.
'Doing the right thing' means spending as little time as is practical on shooting alligators. These tasks are important, sometimes vital, but they need to be achieved with the least possible investment of time and personal energy.
Footnote: unless we are careful, time-management itself can just be a distraction from our primary activity of 'student learning'. Unless we can make time management have a long-term contribution to our teaching, we are just shooting alligators when we should be draining a swamp.