As you and your fellow professionals start to wrap up 2015, it’s valuable to take a moment to consider a major productivity problem. It affects businesses of all sizes.
The problem is that we often look for a quick fix when it comes to complicated issues. The action doesn’t end up fixing the problem and can have a negative impact on other things.
Inside of most of us is a desire to address problems as fast as possible. We want to check it off our list and this gives us a sense of satisfaction.
This kind of motivation is good and often encouraged in the workplace but sometimes it’s better to sleep on a new idea or to decide that the time to solve a big problem is not five minutes before lunch.
Your workplace may have a lot in common with a wet load of laundry. To illustrate this point, let?s go into a laundry room. Imagine you’re moving your clothes from the washer to the dryer. You start the dryer and then leave it.
Shortly before the end of the cycle, you notice that there’s a wet sock on the floor. You must have dropped it while transferring the other clothes.
You hold the sock in your hands, considering the fastest solution. It’s really your only consideration.
You then decide to throw the sock in with the rest of the clothes in the dryer. It seems like an action that makes sense. You think the warm, almost dry clothes would quickly dry the sock.
The opposite happens. While the sock will eventually dry, first it will make all of the other clothes more wet. One wet sock lengthens the entire drying cycle.
Problems in your workplace are like wet socks. They involve good intentions but poor outcomes.
A few extra moments can prevent problems. Consider your action first and any negative consequences it may bring. This mental workout will save you time and money.
