My time in Corporate America taught me an interesting lesson. It wasn't
a good lesson to learn. In an age of immediate gratification, I had
always tried to be the person who did what was needed quickly and well.
I built a reputation on it, was often someone's go-to-guy at work,
because I got results. I hated procrastinating, and I was impatient of
people who weren't what I called 'ACTION people'. They were 'talkers'.
I would often think 'you guys sit here and talk some more, I'll go out,
do the thing, get it finished, and be back before you're done talking.'
The lesson I learned however was that in Corporate America, whenever you
run into inefficient 'by committee' scenarios, procrastinating almost
always turned out to benefit everyone involved.
I hated that lesson. I hated that it was true. I hated that if I went
out and did a thing, and then the committee changed their mind, I'd end
up re-doing it. Whereas had I just put it off for a little while
longer, I would have only had to do the thing 1 time instead of redoing it.
But it became true. Whenever I mentally told myself 'DON'T ACT YET'....
and purposely (and painfully) procrastinated, I was rewarded. More
often than not, by the work being cancelled entirely. It was truly an
empty victory to learn that I was best at my job when I strategically
realized the work I was being asked to do, would never happen, and
therefore I wouldn't do it.
I was hailed as being a good prioritizer. Somehow, in the midst of
several high priority jobs, I always got the small ones done too. How
did I do it? I realized that the odds were, anyone coming to me
shouting 'this has to be done now!!!!' would in a month's time be saying
'nevermind, we're cancelling that project.'
I hate that I learned that, and that it was true, and that I profited
from it. Because to me, procrastination is evil. He who hesitates is lost.
Then I moved to a world where it takes 3 months to get supplies from the
U.S.
And I had to learn to wait and plan.
And I had to learn to be patient with unexpected difficulty.
And it drove me nuts for the first few years.
But then I got used to it, and learned the trick. The trick was to have
several projects planning and going and hope they don't all come to
fruition in the same month.
What WAS procrastination, became careful planning, and patient waiting.
I would plan to install a new server, but the guy I was working with got
sick. So we postponed. I would order parts for a new AC unit to be
installed, but it got held up. A sudden emergency has us postpone this
other project.
Time and time again, projects getting put on hold all around me, and I
realized God was teaching me patience. Something I can see now but
couldn't see then.
5 months ago, I wanted to cut down a tree.
IT was leaning dangerously, the pine needles fell and covered my solar
water heating panels, causing us to have many cold showers. The acidic
needles in the gutters were promoting rust, I needed the tree cut down.
So I called the people who do that. They gave me a hefty bill, and said
they could come in a month. In a month's time they lost their main tree
guy and couldn't. So I asked a skilled neighbor who said 'oh yeah we
can do that!, in a month.' 2 months went by and they said 'we're too
busy still.'
I look at the tree every day, thinking 'I knew 5 months ago this was
going to be a problem, and it has been... but I've tried all I can do,
and I suppose it simply isn't meant to be.'
I tell myself to be calm and patient, and wait, and eventually something
will happen.
I seem to be doing that a lot lately. Telling myself, willing myself to
be calm and patient and trust that something will happen.
Whenever that 20 yr old young man in me shouts inside my brain 'no.. DO
IT NOW!!!! GET IT DONE!!!' the nearly 40 year old man in my brain says
'be calm, be patient you've done all you can do, now wait.'
Today, moments ago, a truck drove up, two men, not knowing I was home
got out and began talking. Overhearing I realized they were discussing
my tree.
I stepped out and this is what they said.
"We need lumber for a children's playground we're making. We heard you
wanted your tree cut down. We can have it down in 1 day, and we'll do
it for a discount if we can keep the lumber.... but we have to do it quickly,
we want the playground up before Christmas."
WIN WIN.
I couldn't have engineered that if I tried. No amount of pushing or
nagging or pressing my will would have helped. I remained patient, and
calm, and waited for something to happen. And something wonderful did
happen.
What is the lesson?
There is a difference between procrastinating and waiting, and the main
difference, is attitude. Which, as Chuck Swindoll used to say, that's
the only thing you can really control in life... your attitude.
