Not Finishing and Not Following Up
I get goose bumps at the very idea.
The filing that has been undone for the past several months; the papers that have been piling up, the thank you notes that haven’t been written, the oil change that you’ve been putting off… Each of these are little things, but they sometimes have big consequences.
The auditor struggles to complete his work, the donor feels underappreciated, you can’t find what you’re looking for later, or your cylinder head cracks due to poor lubrication. (I’ve experienced all of those things, by the way.) Some consequences are bigger than others, but they all have one thing in common: they slow down your progress. They will also likely cost you time and money.
Inevitably, not finishing and not following up will cause you to go backwards when you most want to go forward. It may have taken you two minutes to file that paper, but now it takes you 20 minutes to find it. The oil change would have taken 30 minutes and cost you $29.95, but the cylinder costs you $2,300 and puts you on the bus for a week. And that prescription that you didn’t get filled… Well that may cost you a trip to the hospital. So there is real practical value in finishing and following up.
In fact, I suspect that not finishing and not following up can be a metaphor for the rest of our lives. I imagine that in the military shining ones shoes is a precursor to maintaining your weapon, and teaching a squad to march in unison is required before a battalion can be deployed. Even the bible teaches that “if you be faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many.” So I think that it is safe to say that managing the small things in our personal and professional lives prevents us from being inefficient and in a better position to manage the big things when they come along.
Don’t get me wrong, we all have our weaknesses – and are imperfect when it comes to finishing and following up. For example, I’m too frequently late for my next meeting. While I’m always seeking to improve when it comes to this sometimes embarrassing habit, I recognize that at times I choose to risk tardiness so as not to shortcut whatever conversation or task I’m in the middle of. Sometimes I judge that going back to whatever I’m doing may be more costly than cutting it close on arrival time to the next spot. (Sometimes I’m wrong.)
And additionally, this blog represents my failure to follow through. I resisted beginning to write these columns because I wasn’t sure that I could sustain it. So I committed that I would post at least once per month (despite being counseled that I should post at least weekly to build loyal readership), but I have often missed even that mark. As a result, I’ve let myself down and not made the most of the platform we call #dbte.
So as we examine our own lives and spaces to see what we have left unfinished and what we have not followed through on, I encourage you to start with the little things. Make a promise and habit to shine your shoes every Sunday afternoon or to return all phone calls by 5pm on Friday. Things like that will make your week more efficient and prevent you from having to step backwards when you’re ready to press forward with something more substantial.
And if you’re overcommitted or your priorities have changed, acknowledge that. Consider carefully if a commitment needs to be renegotiated, a task needs to be elevated or a meeting rescheduled. Deciding not to follow up is different than just putting it off. (But that may be a whole separate subject…)
To my museum team – first we’ll get the filing done, then we’ll get the museum built.