Efficient stupidity
I shared a house with a woman at one time who kept the place in pristine condition.
One morning, in a rush to get out the door, I realised I had forgotten to iron my shirt. Spontaneously and without thinking, I quickly laid it out on the carpet, to save time. As the iron touched down, it “grabbed”. I was horrified: not only by what I was about to discover but also by the anticipated admonishment from my pristine flatmate. As I peeled the shirt off the floor, I saw embedded, the shape of an iron…burned perfectly into the synthetic carpet.
A one-way, non-pristine speech ensued, along with the loss of my bond.
My primary failure was not to step back…and think.
In the busyness of our days, it’s far too easy to reactively jump in and do the work without engaging the mind and thinking about what steps need to be added (the ironing board), and what steps and tasks need to be removed, to more adequately drive efficient outcomes.
And when we take shortcuts upfront, the negative impacts down the line can have significant ramifications, as I learned.
From my observations and experiences, I can assure you, that stepping back and thinking things through will save you from efficient stupidity.
Ray
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ray@rayhodge.com.au; www.rayhodge.com.au; +61 403 341 105
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*Photo by https://aadvancedcarpetcleaning.com