How many shortcuts have you taken personally or in your business lives that proved to be beneficial?
I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota; land of road construction where many projects are in full bloom from early April to the end of October. On the way to a meeting last week, three lanes were condensed down to one.
Losing patience I took an alternative route where I was stopped by a train with 133 railroad cars. I counted every one of them adding ten more minutes to my route. My shortcut cost me.
Having been in the sales and marketing game in some phase my entire life, I have witnessed many shortcuts. Most of them have hurt individuals or their companies in some way.
The ironic thing about shortcuts is that we are seduced into thinking they will save us time, reduce our work, or somehow provide immediate relief to a situation.
Trust me when I say they don’t.
Recently a commercial vehicle inspector told me at a professional baseball game how they checked out some twenty vehicles that had transported fans. All but two were fully compliant and legal. The rest received various citations for failing to do proper maintenance and document that on the vehicles.
It was the inspector’s opinion that many shortcuts were taken to avoid spending basic maintenance money. What if this would have resulted in an accident or incident causing passenger harm?
Ethical shortcuts take place every day in organizations and they can cause damage. Covering up a lie for a boss, not telling the truth about why a sale was lost, and manipulating expense accounts clearly is problematic and potentially lethal.
My advice: don’t do it and rationalize the act.
Do the heavy lifting required that is moral, right, ethical, and legal.
One shortcut usually leads to another and circles back more intensely.
My friends please remember this: respect, consideration, and courtesy matter a lot. Treat others fairly, decently, and equally.
Build your moral compasses carefully and always monitor them daily.
You know the battle cry: do your best each day. No one can ask more or less from any of us.
All the best/blessings, Mark
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