The road less travelled is not the road I take
October 11, 2022 11:00 AM Subscribe
I find myself stressed and in a pickle at work often, and when I look back at it, it's because I took a shortcut earlier. I either simplified something, created an undocumented step somewhere (think random sheets in excels) or didn't get feedback on something that might require a hard conversation.
At the time, I almost always realize there is a harder way to do it, but probably because I'm lazy, I do it the easy way. And it almost always meets the immediate need, and usually not an issue. 10% of time it doesn't in the longer run, it's painful, it hurts my team and hurts my rep. If you or someone you manage have done this time and time again, what advice/mantra/books do you have?
At the time, I almost always realize there is a harder way to do it, but probably because I'm lazy, I do it the easy way. And it almost always meets the immediate need, and usually not an issue. 10% of time it doesn't in the longer run, it's painful, it hurts my team and hurts my rep. If you or someone you manage have done this time and time again, what advice/mantra/books do you have?
You realise the alternatives exist which is actually a pretty big step. Maybe try to just extend that process to a quick review of risks, ie what could go wrong if I take the shortcut (and it sounds like you have the experience of what that can look like). Sometimes the quick way is the right way if the risk or the impact is minimal, but if you go through it ahead of time, at least you made a conscious choice about why you did what you did.
Also, from the way you talk about this, are you maybe a bit worried about negative reactions to taking the "harder" route, or maybe feel under pressure to get things done quickly. Is there someone you trust in your organisation you can just talk things through with before you make a decision. This is a great way to develop if you have a manager that supports you and is willing to just give you a bit of coaching. If not, maybe a peer?
posted by crocomancer at 11:43 AM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also, from the way you talk about this, are you maybe a bit worried about negative reactions to taking the "harder" route, or maybe feel under pressure to get things done quickly. Is there someone you trust in your organisation you can just talk things through with before you make a decision. This is a great way to develop if you have a manager that supports you and is willing to just give you a bit of coaching. If not, maybe a peer?
posted by crocomancer at 11:43 AM on October 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
I like to do things in my life to take care of Future Jabes, so like at work maybe I could take a shortcut and probably no one would notice it, but if they DID notice it, it would result in a lot of last-minute scrambling and stress that I don't want Future Jabes to experience, so I do the best I can now so that she has an easier road.
I do this with work stuff, but also real-life things -- saving/investing/eating well/exercising. I may not want to do it today, but I care about Future Jabes so I'm doing it for her.
posted by jabes at 11:45 AM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
I do this with work stuff, but also real-life things -- saving/investing/eating well/exercising. I may not want to do it today, but I care about Future Jabes so I'm doing it for her.
posted by jabes at 11:45 AM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
Best answer: When you make the 'easy' choice in the beginning, do you know consciously it is the easy choice? Do you have any gut feelings about it?
I read this book called The Extended Mind which recounted science suggesting our body uses bodily feelings to convey information subconsciously processed from the history of our past experiences (e.g. these gut feelings). People who are more in tune with their bodies, for example experienced meditators, act more rationally when presented with certain situations than those who rely more on conscious forethought. The skill of perceiving this information is known as interoception. Brain scans of the meditators reveal the part of the brain related to interoception is more active as compared to the controls whose prefrontal cortex associated with conscious thought dominates.
The more interoceptive mode of decision-making was most well suited to fast paced decisions. The extra excel sheet one strikes me as one – you might not have the cognitive resources to fully build out the reasons why this might not be best during a busy work day, but if you were to pause and consider if you feel it's the right way, your body might tell you an answer from previous experience.
The author suggested keeping an "interoceptive journal" where, when presented with a decision, you record a brief summary of the decision, than as detailed as possible account of the bodily feelings when you contemplate the different options, then come back later to record how it went.
Certainly, for my biggest work mistake, on looking back I recall having a bodily feeling that there might be a problem which I ignored for the sake of perceived need for expediency.
Maybe you could try meditating before starting work and reflecting on whether your other bodily needs are met as well – do you feel tired, hungry, dehydrated, distracted by strong feelings (included beating yourself up over past mistakes), or clear-headed. Then you can direct your cognitive resources appropriately – if you don't feel good, taking extra time before significant decisions, and focusing on easier tasks. Slowing down overall is a good way of avoiding mistakes. Focus on the quality of work instead of quantity (as measured in time spent).
posted by lookoutbelow at 11:53 AM on October 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
I read this book called The Extended Mind which recounted science suggesting our body uses bodily feelings to convey information subconsciously processed from the history of our past experiences (e.g. these gut feelings). People who are more in tune with their bodies, for example experienced meditators, act more rationally when presented with certain situations than those who rely more on conscious forethought. The skill of perceiving this information is known as interoception. Brain scans of the meditators reveal the part of the brain related to interoception is more active as compared to the controls whose prefrontal cortex associated with conscious thought dominates.
The more interoceptive mode of decision-making was most well suited to fast paced decisions. The extra excel sheet one strikes me as one – you might not have the cognitive resources to fully build out the reasons why this might not be best during a busy work day, but if you were to pause and consider if you feel it's the right way, your body might tell you an answer from previous experience.
The author suggested keeping an "interoceptive journal" where, when presented with a decision, you record a brief summary of the decision, than as detailed as possible account of the bodily feelings when you contemplate the different options, then come back later to record how it went.
Certainly, for my biggest work mistake, on looking back I recall having a bodily feeling that there might be a problem which I ignored for the sake of perceived need for expediency.
Maybe you could try meditating before starting work and reflecting on whether your other bodily needs are met as well – do you feel tired, hungry, dehydrated, distracted by strong feelings (included beating yourself up over past mistakes), or clear-headed. Then you can direct your cognitive resources appropriately – if you don't feel good, taking extra time before significant decisions, and focusing on easier tasks. Slowing down overall is a good way of avoiding mistakes. Focus on the quality of work instead of quantity (as measured in time spent).
posted by lookoutbelow at 11:53 AM on October 11, 2022 [12 favorites]
This is a really interesting question to me. There are lots of projects that are completed in a quick-n-dirty way due to a deadline, or because doing it the right way wouldn't add any discernible value to the product. And often these need to be significantly reworked for version 2. When the first iPhone was being demo'd, it was so janky that if the apps were launched in the wrong order, it would crash.
So I would respond to your question with a question. When you take a shortcut that you come to regret, is it because of external pressures? If so, give yourself a break. Needing to redo shortcut-work 10% of the time sounds like a high success rate to me.
Sometimes when I know there's a right way to do things and I am choosing the easy way, it's because I know that trying to do it the right way will involve a harsh learning curve or an inordinate amount of prep work, and I know I'll just get discouraged and it won't happen at all, so I reason it's better to get something done than nothing.
posted by adamrice at 12:22 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
So I would respond to your question with a question. When you take a shortcut that you come to regret, is it because of external pressures? If so, give yourself a break. Needing to redo shortcut-work 10% of the time sounds like a high success rate to me.
Sometimes when I know there's a right way to do things and I am choosing the easy way, it's because I know that trying to do it the right way will involve a harsh learning curve or an inordinate amount of prep work, and I know I'll just get discouraged and it won't happen at all, so I reason it's better to get something done than nothing.
posted by adamrice at 12:22 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
Best answer: One further thought – based on your mention of reputation and not wanting to ask hard questions, it seems maybe you're a person like me who is unduly preoccupied with what others think of them and wants to solve everything themselves. As you've learned, this sometimes leads to more trouble for your colleagues later. Maybe tackling that feeling and revising the balance towards question asking and collaboration would help.
posted by lookoutbelow at 12:28 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by lookoutbelow at 12:28 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
Needing to redo shortcut-work 10% of the time sounds like a high success rate to me
I came to say this. There is a lot of good advice here--I'm going to check out "interoception" myself--but I think you might want to have a look at self-compassion and dealing with perfectionism, too. There is a certain amount of risk-management in any job, so while it's great to try to minimize your re-do rate, getting it down to zero is probably not possible and trying might cost you in other ways.
In your shoes, I'd try to focus on building in a risk-assessment step and then more closely identifying the situations where a shortcut doesn't work, or where the consequences of error have been serious. Then see if you can get your re-do rate down to something like half of what it is, and work on accepting a certain amount of correction as part of the process.
posted by rpfields at 1:01 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
I came to say this. There is a lot of good advice here--I'm going to check out "interoception" myself--but I think you might want to have a look at self-compassion and dealing with perfectionism, too. There is a certain amount of risk-management in any job, so while it's great to try to minimize your re-do rate, getting it down to zero is probably not possible and trying might cost you in other ways.
In your shoes, I'd try to focus on building in a risk-assessment step and then more closely identifying the situations where a shortcut doesn't work, or where the consequences of error have been serious. Then see if you can get your re-do rate down to something like half of what it is, and work on accepting a certain amount of correction as part of the process.
posted by rpfields at 1:01 PM on October 11, 2022 [5 favorites]
For more on the extended mind and interoception, this podcast interview by Ezra Klein of the author Annie Murphy Paul is what introduced me to the book and ideas.
posted by lookoutbelow at 2:17 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by lookoutbelow at 2:17 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
The author suggested keeping an "interoceptive journal" where, when presented with a decision, you record a brief summary of the decision, than as detailed as possible account of the bodily feelings when you contemplate the different options, then come back later to record how it went.
Interesting idea. Leaving aside the bodily feelings piece, at my job, I find it crucial to keep narrative notes about every project I work on -- i.e., I'm typing full sentences (sometimes with abbreviations and shorthand, to be sure) documenting what I'm doing, when I'm doing it, and why I'm doing it.
Given the amount of stuff I work on, and the way it's all fragmented -- so that I'm doing little bits of work on one thing over many days or weeks, while also doing bits of work on many other things, and reading hundreds of emails every day -- this is simply the only way I can figure out what I've previously done on a given project... and then figure out what I still need to do on it.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 3:48 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Interesting idea. Leaving aside the bodily feelings piece, at my job, I find it crucial to keep narrative notes about every project I work on -- i.e., I'm typing full sentences (sometimes with abbreviations and shorthand, to be sure) documenting what I'm doing, when I'm doing it, and why I'm doing it.
Given the amount of stuff I work on, and the way it's all fragmented -- so that I'm doing little bits of work on one thing over many days or weeks, while also doing bits of work on many other things, and reading hundreds of emails every day -- this is simply the only way I can figure out what I've previously done on a given project... and then figure out what I still need to do on it.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 3:48 PM on October 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
The concept of technical debt may be a useful way to think about this. In particular, I think it's useful to recognize that that shortcut creates a metaphorical debt that 1) must be repaid and 2) accrues interest.
Like a literal monetary debt, there are situations where borrowing absolutely makes sense. But you should go in making an eyes-open sober analysis, and not act like a teenager with a credit card that has a way-too-high a limit. Know that's what you're doing, and have a concrete timeline for paying back that debt.
My workplace has inflicted on me a great example of this: A software project which has grown by accretion for 20+ years, features being added in whatever way is most expedient in the short term. Result: It's now brittle, incomprehensible and making even a minor change is hugely difficult and carries enormous risk of breaking dozens of other seemingly-unrelated things. Doing things this way will, at best, end up costing an order of magnitude more over the life of the project. At... not best, it'll simply collapse under its own weight, as the stress of maintaining it kills or drives away all the people capable of doing so.
posted by sourcequench at 4:56 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
Like a literal monetary debt, there are situations where borrowing absolutely makes sense. But you should go in making an eyes-open sober analysis, and not act like a teenager with a credit card that has a way-too-high a limit. Know that's what you're doing, and have a concrete timeline for paying back that debt.
My workplace has inflicted on me a great example of this: A software project which has grown by accretion for 20+ years, features being added in whatever way is most expedient in the short term. Result: It's now brittle, incomprehensible and making even a minor change is hugely difficult and carries enormous risk of breaking dozens of other seemingly-unrelated things. Doing things this way will, at best, end up costing an order of magnitude more over the life of the project. At... not best, it'll simply collapse under its own weight, as the stress of maintaining it kills or drives away all the people capable of doing so.
posted by sourcequench at 4:56 PM on October 11, 2022 [6 favorites]
Sounds like your team could use a "Standard Operating Procedure" for repeated tasks. It's okay that one iteration of a task is "suboptimal," but goal is to apply the lessons learned to future iterations. It's also a good idea to have "get feedback from stakeholders/ teammates" steps both within the SOP process (perhaps multiple times) as well as on the SOP itself. It may also be helpful to adopt the perspective that any system with human actors is going to be "imperfect and not fully predictable" but a functioning process (e.g. multiple stages for quality control) can help reduce the risk.
posted by oceano at 12:17 AM on October 12, 2022
posted by oceano at 12:17 AM on October 12, 2022
You might get a new perspective from reading the book Laziness Does Not Exist. The author argues, based on lots of research, that laziness is usually about not having the conditions or resources we need to support us in action. Changing the frame from “I don’t do this, so/because I’m bad (lazy),” to “I don’t do this because I don’t have what I need to do it,” it’s very empowering and offers a path of getting curious any what you need to be supported in changing your behavior.
posted by spindrifter at 11:57 PM on October 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by spindrifter at 11:57 PM on October 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by dawkins_7 at 11:39 AM on October 11, 2022 [2 favorites]