Be Sharp!
A craftsman is only as good as his tools, it is often said. When cutting vegetables with a blunt knife for ages, then suddenly having a sharp one I was shocked and amazed by the difference. Then, as time went on and the sharp one blunted, I re-sharpened it and again was shocked by the difference it made. It is a good idea, then, to keep your tools, and your mind, sharp.
Similarly, good preparation can make any task far easier. A prime example of this is shaving. I use an electric shaver, rechargeable batteries, and rarely shave very close, so just do it whenever, not worrying to prepare my skin and stubble the way you would with a wet shave. However, the other day I happened to shave after a shower, and what a difference it made! The blades cut through the hair so easily, as they were softened by the soaking in the shower. It’s completely obvious, yet it had to happen for it to occur to me. So, prepare as best you can for your tasks, and you might just find they go much more smoothly and efficiently.
August 15th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Very true! Your story about shaving also has echoes of the continual improvement method called Kaizen. I was exposed to this at my previous employer.
Good preparation is very important in Kaizen, but so is continual improvement of tools and methods. As you’ve shown above, in addition to good prep, we must be willing to change and improve our methods as well.
August 15th, 2006 at 3:39 pm
Kaizen, if I recall correctly, is generally (though not exclusively) something of a slowly but surely method of improvement. A case of making small changes towards continual improvement rather than taking massive leaps (which are often don’t end up getting taken). A good example would be making small changes to a website over time, rather than doing a complete re-design and re-launch. Not that there isn’t a place for such large leaps, just that from a continuous motivation point of view, it’s far less effort to do a little here and there than get overwhelmed by the massive task ahead. Plus, with the emphasis on learning by doing, the small changes are often that much more useful and beneficial, fine-tuning something until it works excellently, or, if the case warrants it, truly pulling it apart and putting it back together in a better way.
There are plus and minus points for small changes and big changes, and I think a healthy balance (or at least an openness to both) is important for getting the best out of your improvement.