Today I caught myself. I'm out on an audit, working with a peer I haven't worked with before. With the holiday weekend we were behind my normal timing for an audit. I was lamenting the fact that, with the managers schedules, we were having further timing issues and that we were not going to be able to have the meetings we need to have when I usually would have them.
He commented that we could rearrange some things and still get fully back on track. I started to protest, and then I really thought about it. I caught myself holding on to a way of doing something that was solely based on habit. There was no reason I couldn't rearrange my meeting order, and his plan was simply more efficient.
It amazes me how often we do things because we've always done them that way. There is an old business fable about this very topic.
I've decided to set a new guideline for myself. If I become frustrated with something, the very first question I'm going to ask myself is why I'm doing it in a way that frustrates me. If the only reason I come up with is because I've always done it that way, I'm changing things!
1 comment:
Hi David,
Long time no see!
I was chatting with my brother not too long ago and we got to talking about the Winnipeg years. That got me wondering what every happened to you. I thought I'd do a Google search, and low and behold I stumbled across your blog. (I'm on blogspot myself: bloginhood)
Looks like you're doing well. Things are good out here on the Wet Coast.
Send me a note sometime on my blog and we'll exchange emails. It would be great to catch up.
All the best,
-Robin Shantz
PS: I didn't intend for this to be an official comment on your blog, just figured it would be a quick and easy way to get in touch.
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