A New Way to Work

I've been at my new career for two weeks now. So far, everything is great. I blend in well with the other team members, the task at hand fits my strengths nearly perfectly, and I have ample opportunities ahead to learn new things and make a difference.

While all of this is a drastic departure from my last job and is a very welcome change, I see a change in myself too. For as long as I could remember, I took on new challenges headlong. Rarely taking the time to plan anything, I would dive in and figure it out on the way to the end. I thought this showed how enthusiastic I was to do a great job. In fact, I've always been commended for my "self-starter" nature. That was then. I have now turned a new leaf. As I have written in the past, I tend to burn myself to the point of "super crispy" in a very short amount of time. It reflects who I am. I love high impact sports like racquetball. I like doing jobs that are planned, implemented, and concluded quickly. I like keeping many projects going at once....well, you get the point.

That is until I took the time to reflect on my career during my buffer time. I realized that I wasn't doing myself any favors (more stress), wasn't doing my family any favors (not as fun to be around...when I was there), and definitely wasn't doing my employer any favors (when I get burned out, I look for ways out). I found that I work hard, but not always smart. I tried to go it alone and be the lone wolf that brought in the kill for the rest of the pack to enjoy, while I risked all to have my efforts soon forgotten. It occurred to me during my week of rest that I had the opportunity to change that. I knew that I couldn't do it alone. What's more, I shouldn't do it alone. If a team is properly constructed and lead, the result should be more than the sum of the parts. Furthermore, I should work smarter.

So far I would give myself an A for changing my work habits. I have spent considerable time planning out my work, an activity that would have been bypassed in earlier days. I've gained insight and help from my co-workers. I see the big picture now. "Slow and steady wins the race", that ubiquitous lesson from the Aesop fable, 'The Tortoise and the Hare', has become a new way of thinking for me.

Does this mean I'm lazy? Absolutely not. Does it mean that I get less done? No, in fact I get more accomplished. To me the phrase means that the long-term goal is far more important than the short-term. What are the outcomes from working smart? My opinion is that your actions are more concentrated because the plan is well laid out and "spinning your wheels" or "changing courses like a sailboat" become uncommon occurrences. I've often worked alongside older workers that seem to have no sense of urgency. I would get so impatient with their lack of urgency that I would try to do the project by myself just to get it done. I now see that they were not holding back (well, not all at least), but rather planning their attack.

That being said, I still see the need for a diversity of actions. Sometimes you need to just dive in and get things done, but for the most part smart, planned, and efficiently executed plans so common to the long-term goal of continuous improvement are far superior to short-term thinking of getting it done just to get it done.

Lesson: It is far better to plan your work efficiently and work your plan with more effectiveness than to run widely toward the finish line. Prioritize your tasks, plan for efficiency, and follow your plan. Work smarter, not harder.