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“There can be no economy where there is no efficiency” (Benjamin Disraeli).
BY DEFINITION, EFFICIENCY REDUCES WASTE, AND FOR THAT REASON, IT’S AN ESSENTIAL HABIT TO ACQUIRE. When our resources are scarce, it’s obviously important to minimize waste, but when they’re abundant, as they are for many of us in the modern world, it’s no less important to use those resources efficiently. When we’re plentifully supplied with raw materials for our work, it’s harder to see the need for carefulness, but abundance is never an excuse for waste, and we should always get the most good that we can out of every moment, every dollar, and every ounce of our strength.
One place where efficiency and good stewardship are especially important is the realm of personal talents and abilities. Since these are intangible qualities, it may be harder to see them as “resources,” but that’s what they are. Think, for example, about something like intelligence. The more intelligent a person is, the more they should use their intelligence efficiently, wasting as little of it as possible on unworthy pursuits. Susanna Wesley wrote this prayer: “Be pleased, O God, to grant unto me that great freedom of mind that will enable me to . . . manage the common affairs of life in such wise as not to misemploy or neglect the improvement of my talents.”
It has often been pointed out by teachers like Stephen R. Covey that “efficiency” must always be governed by “effectiveness.” We may climb life’s ladder with all the efficiency in the world (good technique), but if, when we get to the top, we find that we’ve had our ladder leaning against the wrong wall (wrong vision), we’re in trouble.
Working efficiently and effectively requires the old-fashioned quality of wisdom. There’s no shortcut to it — except our willingness to listen and learn from the wisdom of those who’ve gone before.
The thing to remember about efficiency is that we’re only in this world for a short time. Whatever contribution we want to make to the lives of those around us, we only have a limited number of days in which to make it. It’s common sense, then, to work as efficiently as we can. If by working efficiently, we can reach the end of our lives having done more good than by working any other way, that’s a powerful argument for learning how to be efficient.
“The possession of efficiency — the power to do” (Nicholas Murray Butler).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
