Pop's Garage On Speed

Have you ever been in such a hurry that you missed a step, brought the wrong file, cut the wrong branch or, and this is my particular Hell, tried to carry so much that you drop most if not all of it. More than just another Murphy's Law manifestation, going so fast that it ends up causing you to lose time is one of life's ironies, a Catch 23.

Pop had a pithy saying for this (too), that you should take time make nice. I've always added less haste more speed to the equation (not a Pop saying). So, what do these four-word English Haiku mean in the real world. Lots actually. Let's start with Pop.

What is the goal of any action? To achieve the required result. Secondary goals include doing it quickly and properly, the twin Es of Quality Management, efficiency and effectiveness. Now Pop was always looking for the easiest (quickest, cheapest) way to get something done (and here's the important part) without sacrificing the intended result.

Pop was always about the final result. Take/Make means that taking a little more time up front to get X done is better than shaving time that causes poor results, so poor that you have to fix or redo them (both adding to the cost). A direct segue into Less/More.

Haste and Speed describe different parts of an action. Haste is how you try to go fast (how you move, prepare etc.), and speed is how fast you actually go.

Chaucer wrote in 'Canterbury Tales' (c. 1387), 'In wikked haste is not profit.'. When you try too hard you begin to focus on the how--can we go faster?--and forget (pay less attention to) result quality. Trying to be super efficient hurts overall efficiency. Here's an example from the dust.

My sister was helping. An ex-public health nurse, Sis is a bulldozer (which I mean in the very best sense), all about Get The Dam Work Done Now! I pointed her towards the black hole of tools under the stairs, which she attacked even before my sound waves reached the wall.

I took a short break and came back to ... No Time Taken, No Nice Result, to ... Much Haste, No Speed. Why? Because in her hurry she only thought about her step, separate the tools, and by focusing on just that one step she was causing unnecessary steps down the road.

Sis separated the tools in record time, laid nicely in a row. See pic.

Great, except that there were more tools than she imagined, tools that defied categories, and, of course the inevitable happened. The neat row turned into a messy mound that split the garage in two.

I then took an entire day to arrange the tools how I wanted at the start, into great bug tubs (I'll take some pics today). Could they have gone straight from the black hole to the tubs, missing the entire "messy mound" step? YES. It was what I wanted.

It didn't happen because it took more time up front to find, empty and label the tubs, and Sis wanted to Get The Job Done Now. In other words, Haste = Waste(d) time and effort. Taking the Time would have made Nice, less Haste would have meant more Speed.

Now sometimes you have no choice but the Get The Job Done Now; sometimes haste is the only option left open. Fine. Go ahead, sprint. Just try to keep the intended final result in mind, and where you can take the time to at least point your actions in that general direction.

Here is a great lesson for Dick and Acme. Like all entrepreneurs, Dick is frantic (figuratively: he is not frothing at the mouth) for revenue, any revenue. I emphasize "any" because easy money ("This is generating revenue!") often leads down wrong roads. Dick should seek revenue (duh) but should take the time (now when he has time) to make sure decisions made today will give his plans a good chance of success tomorrow.

The old saw about career choice is that you don't actually make a conscious career but rather realize 10 years later that life chose one for you. The same can happen in business. Maybe the new gig is great, and should become your business, but it behooves you to Take Time, Make Nice.

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Dick is in India, hiring more people. I wanted to writ about that, about Acme (and I will, soon), but am being consumed by helping my parents downsize. Dueling Alzheimer's: screaming arguments and 80 year old-tantrums over words that quite possibly were never even said, only imagined, or said but then forgotten, totally.

Mom was rushed to hospital mid-week, chest pains: oh no! Luckily it was just exhaustion and angina, this time. So I apologize for no emphasis on Acme. Adding to my confusion is their asking me, rather formally too, if I would take responsibility for disposing of their ... stuff. (Of course I said Yes, with a silent "about bloody time" under my breath.) So I will continue to serve two (?) masters for a time yet.