Working smarter the right way.
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Stack of flyers
A little 8 years old boy name Peter and his best friend got their first job. Peter’s mother has a friend name Suzie, who is a realtor; she hired the two boys to pass out flyers in the neighborhood.
The two little boys were told to put one flyer to each house. Peter is the kid who does everything the right way, and his friend is the kind of kid who is smart and he always look for short cut.
Each work day, Ms. Suzie hanged out two stacks of flyers to the boys and they each took one side of the street.
Peter took his stacks of the flyers and he walked up to each house and tucks the flyer under the door mat. Some houses didn’t have a door mat and Peter would look for rocks to hold down the flyers. Peter’s process took a while and his friend would always finish before him.
One day Ms. Suzie called both of the boys in for a meeting. As it turns out Peter’s friend was tossing the flyer to each house without securing the flyer against the wind. Ms. Suzie was getting phone calls from the entire neighborhood, because her flyers were blowing up and down street.
The boys have to go back and clean up the street. As a result they lost their job.
While they were picking up loose flyers, Peter asked his buddy what happened. His friend told him that after the first couple of times passing the flyers, he started to think about how he can finish faster? The boy said, “It took too long to tuck the flyer under each door mats and then there are those who have no door mat and I had to look for ways to secure the flyers…it was just taking too long!”
Do see people like Peter and his friend at your work places? A guy like Peter takes his time to do his work the right way. Or a guy like Peter’s friends smart enough to think of ways to improve productivity but sacrifice the quality…working smarter the wrong way.
A better solution for the boys would be to take 15 minutes to attach a rubber band to each flyer beforehand. This will create a quick and easy system for them to secure the flyer to each house, by hooking the rubber band to each home’s door knob. That is working smarter the right way!
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
I must say this is a great article i enjoyed reading it keep the good work
Hi Gio .. certainly the rubber band round the door handle would work - don’t you have postboxes at the house - rather than letter boxes in the front door, like we do? People are always different - however we learn in life that we need to do things properly the first time, not necessarily perfectly, because if it’s not right .. then it’s an awful lot of extra work later on … I really wouldn’t want to pick up street litter! Also if not done ‘properly’ in the work place, then others have to pick up the pieces and that’s not fun, nor fair ..
Go well - Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters
Work smarter, not harder — that’s something one of my coworkers always says and it’s so true. There are so many ways to get a task done and it’s usually better to take a little time to think about how we can do something better.
Hey Giovanna - this is my first time to the site. I love it. Great lesson about the little boy and I loved reading about the little girl in Haiti. WOW. I look forward from learing more from you
I’m a fan of the collective brain. I think Ken Blanchard has a saying along the lines that “none of us is as smart as all of us.”
Hello Giovanna,
It is not working harder it is working smarter. Yes we have to think of a way to do it the right way and still be smart about it as well. It has to be productive and work better to get to the goal at hand. Thank you Giovanna. Nice story.
Dan and Deanna “Marketing Unscrambled”
Thanks for this Giovanna. I do see a lot of people who aren’t particularly interested in what they’re doing, and so they end up creating the same results that you talked about in this story. Developing the ability to enjoy what we do moment to moment, as opposed to just the end results, seems very important for dealing with this kind of situation.
Hi Randy
Thanks for your comment and sharing your thoughts.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Hilary
Yes, we do have postboxes here…but I think there rules against putting flyer in the postbox.
I agree with you on doing thing properly the first time. You are a wise lady.
Thanks for your comment and sharing your wisdom.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Positively Present
It is always better to take a little time to think first, that usually paid out in the end.
Amen, sister
Thanks for your comment and joining the conversation.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Drew
Welcome to my blog.
I am glad you enjoyed the stories.
Thanks for your comment and come back anytime.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi J.D.
I love that quote…very nice.
Thanks for your comment and adding more to this post.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Deanna
Cheers to working smarter!
Thanks for your comment and sharing your thoughts.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Chris
I see people like Peter and his friend all the time.
Thanks for your comment and sharing your wisdom with me.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action