I’m a screw up. At least, I make mistakes every once in a while, but I hate them so much I feel like a screw up. We make every effort to prevent mistakes, but they sometimes just seem to happen. It’s like they have lives of their own, and their sole purpose is to rise up and embarrass us.
Being careful can make the work go faster
We’re fortunate that usually our errors aren’t hard to fix and don’t normally have major consequences. After all, a misspelled word on the cover of a magazine isn’t nearly as consequential as a leaky roof, or—heaven forbid—a safety issue. I don’t want anyone to think that we’re confused by that difference. But, like you, we still work to create systems that give us a routine so we can avoid making mistakes. We follow the same editing path every day and every person here knows his or her responsibility in that path. The one thing I will say about our mistakes: they get seen immediately by 60 thousand people. Sometimes that leaves a mark.
The one thing that most often upsets our processes and causes mistakes is if we rush a procedure. If we are moving too fast and take a shortcut. If we are late and pushing to meet a deadline, we don’t pay as close attention to the details as we should. Going too fast is a trap.
U.S. Special Forces have a phrase that I quote often. I’d like to tell you that I heard it from being aware of military procedures, but actually I picked it up watching a sitcom. (You can never tell where you might find a good idea!)
“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” There are lots of interpretations of the phrase. I’ve heard it described in the context of practice. Learn things slowly so you get the procedure correct. Then when you move quickly the good habits are routine. That’s probably a good analogy for sports where footwork is so important, but I think the best interpretation is that if you try to rush, bad things happen.
Navy Seals and Delta Force members are routinely put in positions where moving quickly is imperative. Survival depends on fast decision making and executing maneuvers at pace. But even in the direst circumstances, they recognize that rushing is detrimental to success.
In construction, where safety should be the first priority of every company, every crew and every employee, the mantra of “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast” should pervade all processes and procedures. Hurried actions are what lead to accidents.
So, be careful out there on the job site. Go slowly but move smoothly. The result will be faster production.
