“To do things to the very best, you often have to do things differently”
I forget where I got this intriguing little quote from. Someone wise and profound no doubt. It’s one of those one-liners that draws you in and makes you think. But the more you think about it, the more challenging it becomes. Let me explain.
“To do things to the very best” This sounds terrific and something we should aspire to. We all want to do things as effectively, efficiently and as smoothly as possible. All jolly good.
But the second part of the quote is the bit that smacks you over the head with an iron skillet.
“You often have to do things differently”. And here’s the uncomfortable bit. It begs the question … am I really prepared to do things differently? Am I willing to sacrifice my comfortable routines to learn a different way of doing things? You see the problem.
Learning to do things differently means letting go of things that are snug and embracing the unfamiliar, trusting that this is going to be better. And learning new things is challenging and you make mistakes. The so-called ‘learning curve’ is often drawn at an angle of no less than 45%. Do I really want to try and scale that?
But there’s something else going on here as well. To do things differently means that you have to admit, maybe even publicly, that you weren’t doing things the right way or the best way. You confess that you are fallible and not perfect. The good news is that doing things differently and hopefully better, is a dazzling sign of always being willing to grow, develop and flourish. And that is worth all the angst and the hard slog of doing things differently and therefore better.