Reflections on Perception
/
I’m foolishly recovering from a fortunately small and easily removed metal fragment in my eye. Reflection number 1 is “all the gear, all the time, no matter how short or quick the job is”.
I work a lot on my own in my shed, and have a pretty high standard on safety gear. And I took a “shortcut” which has taken a lot longer to resolve than slowing down for the couple of minutes to get my safety specs from where I used them last. Working in company, we can keep an eye on the safe practices of others around us. Alone, not so much. If you work alone a self prompted review (preferably without a GP) is well worth it.
The perception of shortcuts and too busy pop up regularly in the coaching work I do with leaders. Themes like:
It’s faster to do it myself
I haven’t got time to give people the reasons for what I'm asking, they just need to get on with it.
I know I should do more about health, exercise, sleep, food, etc, but I don’t have time.
There are many like these, and I can relate to all of them. The short term may show a tempting illusion of being faster, but ultimately all these “shortcuts” involve do-overs or repairs of some kind. A couple of useful questions are:
How can I build capacity and strengthen relationships as I do this? While doing so may take a little longer, in the long run the trust and capacity built will speed us up.
What are the negative consequences of this “shortcut”?
What are the actual risks of rushing this?
Not surprisingly, today I’m feeling more one-eyed about this than I might otherwise…And I’m counting my blessings.