Software for Success in BusinessTM
I Delegate, Therefore I Am
More than just an automated 'to do' list,
it's an enormously powerful tool for success in business.
In other words, it keeps track of Who is doing What, and When it is supposed to be done.
Nothing is more prized in business than a manager who can get things done.
That means managing lots of projects, people, dates and priorities.
It's the perfect tool for crystal clear communications.
No manager can compete effectively without it.
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(c) Copyright 2002, Michael McCafferty, all rights reserved
"Who - What - When" and "Software for Success in Business" are trademarks,
property of Michael McCafferty
With more than 37 years of computer experience, and having invented other software products in the past, it's only natural that I think of solving Life's challenges with software.
After my last successful software adventure, people were asking "What's Next?", as if it was just naturally expected that I would be inventing another new software goodie. Well, they were right, of course, but probably no one thought it was going to take almost 10 years for it to happen.
A couple of years after the TeleMagic sale, I restarted into business mode with Triple M Systems, Inc. with DeAnn Dalry and started defining and documenting and automating business processes, starting with the very first thing that must be done in every business adventure, and moving through all activities common to most businesses. After almost a year of trying to focus on business while I was more focused on playing with my biplane, the biplane came out the winner, and the business went dormant.
In the fullness of time, and after almost 7 years of flying, the balance returned in my life and the biplane was parked, and I focused again on business. Triple M Systems was revived with Kat Sessoms assisting this time. Among the early processes we developed were the System for Effective Written Communication, the System for Meetings, the Agenda, the System for Creating Systems, and the To-Do list. Our early To-Do list was called our "Who What When" list because it's a lot more specific than To-Do list, and the words To-Do imply the it's ME! that has all those things to do. But a Who - What - When list clearly gives the feeling that there's other people involved in the Doing, and that's a lot more supportive and confidence building than a To-Do list which leaves you feeling all alone and overworked.
Thus, the idea of an automated To-Do list, but with other players (not me) doing the Doing, kind of like a computerised board game but with seriously Business motivation.
After a lifetime in business, with special experience in starting companies from scratch, and therefore in a management capacity, it was obvious to me that to be successful in business, it is not so much a matter of what you can get done personally, but rather what you can get done through others. And it's also a matter of how many things you can get done simultaneously rather than doing one thing at a time. These truths are ripe for automation.
I also like the idea of Large Numbers. I like having a positive effect on people's lives, and the more people the better. So this software product is designed to benefit everyone who needs to "get stuff done", and while that means almost all of us, and while even a busy housewife could use this software effectively, the initial target market is the person very much like I have been for so many years, the business manager. This person is on the front lines of business, the manager who is responsible for his/her share of the Grand Plan, and who must be absolutely sure that things get done on time. I figure that there should be several million people who could use this program, just in the business management market, and that's a good number to start with. From there we can move into other markets.
Stress reduction. While the Game of Business is lots of fun to play, at times it can get stressful. That's why being organized is so important. If you are not organized, you will be stressed. If you are organized, you will be much less stressed. It's a fact. So get organized. The organizing elements that are most important are the most elementary, and one of these is your Plan, translated into Who does What by When. Another of these organizing elements is your database of customers, team members, suppliers, competitors, etc. I invented the solution for that challenge in 1985, with TeleMagic. Now, 17 years later, after a much enjoyed vacation of flying around the US and Europe in an old open cockpit biplane, it's time to solve the next most important challenge of business with "Who - What - When". I figure that with the combined potential stress reduction that is possible with the wide use of this software, that wars could be averted, sickness and disease much reduced, and a lot fewer managers would "Go Postal" and show up for work some day with a shotgun and a nasty look in their eye.
The Automated To Do List. You can use Who - What - When as an automated to do list for all the stuff YOU have to do, just leave the "Who" column blank. However, the second you fill in the Who column, you automatically become a Manager. You have enlisted the help of others in achieving your plans. Once you have crossed the line into Management, it is essential to recruit as many others as possible into the Who column, thereby giving you the most amount of power in getting things done. The addition of the Who column to the automated to do list transforms the product into a power tool with huge leverage. It is truly Software for Success in Business.
At Triple M Systems, Inc. we wrote up the very first To Do lists on the computer, but they were crude prototypes. I knew how I wanted it to work, but there were so many other priorities that it was impossible to get the think time and the programming time to make it real. What a marvelous Catch-22! I didn't have time to build the product because I didn't have the product! That excuse has now been eliminated for millions of others.
The product never made it out of Triple M Systems, for lots of reasons, not the least of which was the bursting bubble of dot coms, the cash flow challenges, etc. The project languished as Daily Life took a higher priority. And then along came Necessity, the Mother of Invention, in the form of a consulting gig with The Kerry Collection, a manufacturer and marketer of religious articles (at remarkable value). This is a company I helped in the earliest stages of its formation, about 20+ years ago. Recently, as a member of the Board of Advisors for Kerry, we gave particular focus to Systems improvement and naturally the To-Do list was pretty high up on our To-Do list (I hope you enjoy the twist in that).
Early prototypes of the To-Do list for Kerry involved a phrase that Kerry's founder, Joseph Stewart, has heard me use so many times (he was on my Board of Advisors at TeleMagic) as the essence of what must be known about a project: "Who Does What By When?". These 5 words are like magic. Without knowing these simple facts, nothing gets done for lack of specificity. Add these facts and you have a plan, and accountability, and then almost nothing can stop you.
The Kerry plan was to develop the Who - What - When solution for Kerry, with MM subsequently making it into a product for sale. The Kerry people who worked on the Kerry version are Tom Hamilton (who figured out the sorting) and Nicole Schaffer and Kate Twogood. The very first user of the product outside of Kerry was Sean Curtis, President of Coffee Ambassador. Sean was also the first user of TeleMagic software.
On Friday, the 22nd of February, 2002, and in agreement with Joey Stewart, Who - What - When went on sale on the Internet, at the introductory special price of $19.95 ("a saving of Hundreds, if you act now"). The following day we decided to donate the free use of the product to the 25,000 churches who are the customers of The Kerry Collection, so they can be more productive in managing the many volunteer projects that are typical of community churches.