Order Reprints

The Human Factor

By David Smith
President, The Employers’ Association
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Why is it that people tend to rush to judgment, hurry up to wait, and do anything but “stop to smell the roses?” Though time is seemingly in abundance when we have nothing to do, it passes far too quickly when we would prefer it to stand still. We seem to worry more about how quickly we can finish the race than we do about the joy found along the way, or even the satisfaction derived from simply crossing the finish line. People far too often worry needlessly about things outside of their control rather than identifying the things over which they do have influence and acting upon them, fearing they do not have the time to slow down so they cannot appreciate the things around them. We often find ourselves slaves to the very clock we so desperately seek to master when we keep ourselves busy to the point of exhaustion.

I have heard many people complaining about their lemons rather than celebrating the opportunity to make lemonade. The weather is too hot (yet January and February will almost certainly bring complaints about it being too cold). I am too busy to exercise (several acquaintances were in accidents this past year that took from them the ability to freely move about — I’m sure they wish “being busy” was all that kept them from exercising). Rather than finding satisfaction in all they have accomplished, some see only what has not been finished due to a lack of time, or what they wish they had rather than what they actually possess. We have become a nation of complainers — bringing others down in order to make ourselves look better rather than elevating ourselves in order to pull others up with us.

Rather than rushing to judge others, take time to ask why someone acted in a way you might feel foolish. Do not expedite your condemnation — take time to see if your perspective might be the cause of your exasperation rather than another’s actions. Offer advice and counsel rather than critically dismissing another’s action as being worthless, wrong or misguided. Doing something for another because they may have done it wrong (or differently than you might have) provides but a short term fix as it changes only results rather than altering behavior. Providing fish gives someone a meal — teaching them how to catch fish provides a long-term solution.

Why hurry up to wait? If you are going to have to wait anyway, use the time preparing for the journey. You cannot control another’s behavior, only your own. If someone else is frustrating you by being late, use the time productively to think about how you might be able to change the situation. Is there something you can do that the person you are waiting for feels the need to accomplish before leaving? (If all else fails, call ahead to say you might be late. It will not make you early, but at least your tardiness will not be holding others up.) We are far too quick to blame and too slow to seek responsibility when we play the hurry up and wait game, often too determined in assigning “fault” to seek a workable solution.

When people rush to see how much they can do or see they may lessen the enjoyment of what they actually saw or accomplished. While vacationing in Maine several summers ago we overheard a fellow tourist asking about the best way to see Acadia National Park in half a day (Impossible! There is far too much majesty off the trails to be satisfied with driving around the park loop). Another said the three-hour lighthouse tour could be done in less than an hour — 25 minutes each way and five minutes to take pictures (he obviously missed the other five lighthouses along the coast he traveled). During a trip to the Smoky Mountains this past spring we talked to people claiming to have seen all they could in one day by driving through the park. I preferred to find joy in the journey by hiking to the park’s waterfalls, investing time in their discovery rather than accepting satisfaction in simply having “been there.”

Some measure life by the number of breaths they take. Might not a better measure be the number of moments that took their breath away? Spend time during the waning moments of summer to immerse yourself in the beauty our region provides. Seek solace in the cry of a gull or find joy in the laughter of a child. Though we cannot alter the seasons, we can stop chasing blindly the hands of time as they race relentlessly around the clock. The sands of time will not bury us if we become the master of our own universe by taking the time to appreciate not only where we are going but also how — and if — we choose to arrive.

  Order Reprints

TAGS:

• column
• david smith
• human resources
• the employers’ association
• the human factor