An Argument Against Efficiency
We are conditioned to think of efficiency as the pinnacle of production: The optimal allocation of inputs that yield output. But this is a red herring. We should instead strive to be effective.
In work and in life, your maximum effort is expected. To completely exhaust this input makes efficiency both unlikely and out of your control. When you come short of your goal, “I tried” is not a sufficient or comforting justification for failure. It was already expected. If you can not be trusted to give a true effort, then you are unreliable and thus expendable.
Yoda taught this. In the face of shortcoming to actualize his destiny, Luke professed his effort, despite his failure. Yoda did not care (or believe) that he was giving his maximum effort. His message was simple: you either did it or you did not. There is no consolation for trying.
There is a saying in the construction industry, that I imagine applies to any downward management of delegation: I don’t want the labor pains, I want the baby. The amount of pushing, screaming, pain, and effort it takes is irrelevant, expected, and understood. But still get it done in the face of it all.
To contextualize efficiency in any action, is to think of the future actions. You are limiting your present effort and success to save for a future that may not ever exist. If your focus is to be effective, however, then you will give every effort towards success. A success today is worth more than the potential for success tomorrow. Do not focus on what was or what will be; focus on what is.
In Gattaca (1997), two brothers would compete in a race of distance. One brother would lose every time, succumbing to the daunting distance left to travel. Finally, he asked how his brother could persevere. His secret was simple: rather than save half of his energy for the return trip, he would give maximum effort in the present moment. He did not need to ration his effort, to efficiently budget his energy for the whole journey. He only needed to outlast his opponent, not worrying about a distance he may not need to trek. By remaining present, and ignoring anxieties of future, he was able to succeed.
The case for efficiency of effort is one of comfort. “Don’t kill yourself over it.” Which may be good advice for the majority of people. But extraordinary results will almost always demand extraordinary effort.
The good news of a failure is that it is never without the opportunity for reward. Your effort gained you insight into the system you tried to master. Your next iteration is now with the benefit of hindsight.
“It is not the critic who counts…The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena…because there is no effort without error and shortcoming”