The Way It’s Done

I cannot count the number of times I have been talking with someone and mentioned to them how I do something only to hear them exclaim, “I didn’t know you could do that!” Of course, I have had an above average frequency of these kinds of interactions as a technical trainer. I’ve had the pleasure of showing hundreds of people the cool stuff that technology can do and hear their oohs and ahs. It pains me, however, when I encounter someone who describes their process for performing an action that could easily be handled in a fraction of the steps he or she takes to achieve it. While I get great satisfaction from helping others improve their processes, I can’t help but wonder what we can do to prevent doing things sub-optimally and avoid the pain of discovering we could have been doing it more efficiently all along. This includes those times when we get stuck in the invisible rut of, “That’s just the way it’s done.” or “We’ve always done it this way.”
I would like to share some things that have helped me bypass some of the aforementioned pangs and I would love to hear what works for you as well.

• Know your tools. Taking the time to get to know the tools I have available as deeply as possible has been one of the most important investments I’ve made in my workflow. I have been able to develop a number of solutions using available tools, eliminating the need to incur additional, unnecessary expense. Also, sometimes a deep dive into a single tool can reveal that it can do more than you thought. Exploration and experimentation are the keys.
• Knowledge intake. As much as I would like to brag bout learning these tools on my own, it would be far from the truth to do so. The second most important part of an anti status quo system is a steady intake of tips, tricks, and information from others who have developed successful systems for themselves. Your current system will be tested, challenged, and perhaps even proven deficient…and those are all good things. Part of my everyday workflow includes standing at my workstation instead of sitting and maintaining a zero count in my email inbox. Why? Because I sought out insight from others and found better ways to do things. A surefire way to get stuck in a rut is to not seek out or listen to other perspectives.
• Revisit points one and two. Every time I feel like I know something backwards and forwards, I learn something new about it. Just when I feel I have my system down pat to the point I don’t think it can be improved any more, I encounter a way to improve it. Perhaps one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is that people, processes, and tools can always be improved…always. The moment I forget this is the moment the rut begins.

What would you add?

The easiest way to avoid learning something is to believe you already know it. -Glenn S. Phillips, from Nerd to English

May this be a year of continuous improvement.

~John