Most of you have probably heard this one or one very similar to it. I think it’s in some parents/bosses manual somewhere. Dad used to tell it to us, too, and it has stuck with me through a lot of ‘doing.’ “If you don’t have time to do it right, how will you find time to do it TWICE?”
I’m not really sure what I had done the first time I heard Dad say this, but he had plenty of opportunities to say it to my three brothers and me. Dad was really good about letting us learn to do things and tried early to help us develop responsibilities. More often than not, we would try to do the task in what looked like the easiest way for us. Usually, this meant that we were taking a shortcut that left some important step out of the process. Dad would come in, survey the progress, then shake his head and give us the wizbit.
We probably returned to him a look that would seem to say, “Huh? Are you talking to me?” and tried to ignore him. Eventually, he would have us back up, repeat the last two or three processes, and include the right one as well.
The other wizbit that goes right along with this one is: “If something is worth doing… it’s worth doing RIGHT!” Between the two of these, we had no choice! We either had to do it right or suffer the consequences.
As usual, the wisdom of the ages holds true again. Now, when I undertake some repair or building project. I have plenty of opportunities to do things in some “quick and dirty” method, ignoring the correct way to do them. However, I’m finding more and more that I choose the correct way. It probably stems from the fact that I know that somewhere down the road, I’ll be really sorry I did it wrong and have to do it over again, probably replacing all the connecting parts that wore down because of the poor job I did in the first place!
This one certainly applies to life and human nature. Just imagine how delightful it would be if we all did things right the first time! I know, we don’t always know the right thing to do. However, in many situations, we try to “get by” and do the least we can do. Well, someone has to do that job over. Maybe not by you, but any job that is done poorly never lasts and has to be re-done. You may think that you’ve gotten away with it because you didn’t have to personally repair the problem. You’ll probably inherit your share from others who did their job wrong the first time.
A job done well is always appreciated. A job done half-way is rarely appreciated. So, why not go ahead and do the little extra it takes to be appreciated? From my experience, it usually only takes about an extra 10% commitment to do a job right. Not much of a price to pay, is it?
