Haste Makes Waste.

Today's Marketing Cookie is about taking time to work faster.

I suppose most people are familiar with the famous words written by Benjamin Franklin, "haste makes waste." Moreover, most would agree with the big, huge truth held within this tiny, little proverb. You, like me, have made a mess of things at one time or another by trying to work, walk, or speak too quickly. You can't frost a cake while it's still baking. You shouldn't try to play ice hockey on the pond before it freezes. And under no circumstances should you ever put on your boots before you've put on your pants. Little value is gained in doing things before their time.

It takes a long time to make work go faster. It also takes hard work to make hard work easier. Long-term thinking, careful planning, arduous testing, and tedious tinkering are often part of the formula for gaining speed. Henry Ford set a land speed record with the mass production of his Model T, but his assembly line still had to be assembled.

We live in a real-time world, and our clients need to meet the real-time demands of their customers, but unreasonable rushing without a roadmap is a direct road to error. I don't need to remind anyone that fixing screw-ups, calling for do-overs, and cleaning up messes are anything but fast. Try not to look when it happens, because foolish errors may just be the slowest thing in the world to watch.

Remember, it wasn't producing a car every 93 minutes that made Mr. Ford successful. No. That is only the result. Rather, it was the long hours of planning, and hard work that made the results possible. Take time to plan your work, and then work your plan. Believe me, if from the beginning, you plan for the end, you'll get there faster... and safer! As today's fortune says, "Haste does not bring success."

PS: There are but three exceptions to this rule in my estimation. Haste should be avoided unless you need to say, "Thank you," "I love you," or "I'm sorry." For these three phrases, there is no good reason to delay.