Wednesday, December 12, 2007

In the fast lane


Castellana hi-speed, originally uploaded by edans.

I gather there are many of us out there feeling confused and overwhelmed at times, wondering how to prioritize on the truly important things … So I'm posting here Stephen Downes' words of wisdom here, fresh from my inbox.

Everybody faces from time to time demands to make whatever they're doing more efficient. I am no supporter of wasted time and effort. But I always caution the people demanding greater efficiency. Imagine, I say to them, that you are at the top of a 20-story building. Standing by the window. You know the most efficient way to get back down to the bottom. Right? And sometimes, I conclude, some inefficiencies - some resistance and some friction - are exactly what are needed. The principle of efficiency, ruthlessly applied, inevitably leads to a fall.

Just what I needed to read. Thank you, Stephen. Thought it might be useful for some of you folks as well. ;-)

1 comment:

bili said...

you're right...it's useful for others as well...;) I guess we forget to often that things don't have to be so complicated, and that most of the times we make them complicated for no reason... we worry to much I guess... we seem to forget to often that life is not about running to the finish line... all we gotta do is stop and breathe...and look around...and admire what we have and where we are...:)