To move faster, you want to make sure that you only do something once. Any repeat slows you down. However, to be fast requires you to not do it with haste, but rather with care.
When we slow down to determine what exactly needs to be done and then do the steps at the right pace, we get there faster, and with better quality.
So, as we rush off to get started with the day or task at hand, a few moments to slow down at the beginning and throughout the process can be critical.
I read the quote commonly attributed to Mark Twain that says: “The world owes you nothing, it was here first.” This quote is so revealing, and so true in many circumstances, and we can replace the word world with anything or any person. Even when you have done your best, with your best intentions, the results may be different from what you envisioned.
Our intention, therefore, is to strive to do what we can, with what we have, where we are, and based on our values. When we have done our best, we should then be able to appreciate the effort without stressing about the results. Then, if we get what we thought we would achieve, we can rejoice in the moment. And if the result is different, we can also delight in the unpredictability of life. And with that, recommit to try again, for the joy of the work.
We may be looking back at the year that passed, thinking about how we did not make progress on many of the goals we set for ourselves. And yes, it might be true that we didn’t make it. And that is to be expected. No one who has taken multiple shots makes them all, including our most revered sporting icons. Michael Jordan, considered to the greatest basketball player of all time, failed to progress from the first round of the playoffs in his first 3 attempts. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar missed more than 40% of the shots he took. What made them great is not that they failed, but that they dusted off the failed attempts and came back repeatedly.
While we may not have the same incentives to try again, and some goals do not offer repeat chances, most times in life, we do get a second chance. And we can, with the lessons we learnt from the first or 10th attempt, whichever it was, try to improve on the next.
At the same time, you can take a moment to be thankful to yourself, for having worked, however much, on your goals. You could have chosen to do nothing, but you did something, moved a little forward, learnt a little more. You missed some shots, but yet here you are, alive to try again, or to do something else you want for yourself, having learnt and grown from previous experiences.
The benefits of doing the work correctly the first time are immense. In business, it can reduce costs, as you minimise the input material used, or time taken to produce a product or to deliver the service. In personal life, it can also save time, costs, and reduce stress, as we can finish and move on to the next exiting task or project.
I understand, you might say, but what if the work is novel? How then should we approach it. I agree that, in truly novel cases, iterations may be required to get to your best work. Even with novelty, there is an argument for using a defined process, i.e., while all projects are different, the project delivery process has similar phases which you can optimise.
Doing our best work the first time, however, requires us to prepare. To know as much as we can before we start, and to learn as we go. When we slow down to first determine what needs to be done, by whom, and in which sequence, we help ensure that our work is done as fast as possible, while also improving the odds of meeting the quality standards of our client. Whether that client is us or an external party, we can then rejoice in the knowledge that we did our best, in time.
The old man said. “Keep up, if you want to learn. Nothing good came of sitting and thinking.” So it is, that, indeed in action, we find that we learn more.
Action gives us a chance to see thought in action, and it’s only when we can see the impact, good or bad, that we can make the necessary adjustments.
Random Walks 