Ink Spo ts
“Measure twice and cut once.” “Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.” “Don’t burn your bridges.” All of these old aphorisms and many more I’ve heard all my life. They sound so simplistic and sometimes corny. But I do think many of them contain a kernel of truth, and I’ve tried to follow them and others.
Let’s take “Measure twice and cut once.” I’ve just finished redoing a porch off my kitchen – new decking and railings. The old wood was 30 years old and getting pretty soft. The Trex decking and the aluminum railings weren’t cheap, by any means, and I was extra careful, or so I thought, to make sure I double checked my measurements, and wrote them on a scrap of paper to take to where I was sawing the materials.
All the decking fit just right, but as I was finishing the last of the railings, I had to cut the rail cap for one of the railings going down the stairs. I measured carefully and wrote the length down to take to the garage. The cuts, of course, had to be mitered to allow for the slope of the stairs. I made the first miter cut, and then measured out the length for the second. Where I went wrong was in making the second cut in the wrong direction. Instead of both miter cuts sloping the same way, I had them sloping toward each other. That was an $88 mistake. Measuring is important, but so are the details.
In thinking about this simple expression, I think it can apply to many things in life. The basic premise is to make sure you have the correct information before you take action. The tech industry turns this on its head by saying, “Move fast, break things and then fix it.” Maybe that’s why much software is so clunky and why upgrades seem to work less well than the un-upgraded programs.
This is being tried right now with the federal government. Thousands of people have been fired or put on suspension with no review of what those people do or the functions they serve. It got so bad, people have had to be rehired to keep departments working. That is an example of another aphorism for just this sort of scenario - “Ready, Fire, Aim.” I dread having a problem with my Social Security payments any time soon.
Another saying I try to follow is, “Don’t burn your bridges.” When you’ve been doing what I do for as long as I have, people and companies have a way of coming back around. Customers who failed to pay their accounts with us have come back years later, and are surprised when they are refused credit. Our bad credit file is pretty complete, but often I or someone else in the office remembers that we charged off a debt owed by an individual.
I’ve also had the experience of having a customer decide not to do business with us. Once we’ve explored why they made that choice, we try to part on good terms. In a number of cases, that business has come back. I’d like to think that, because we didn’t let the conversation get negative on our end, we kept the door open for them.
Ben Franklin was famous for his pithy sayings published in Poor Richard’s Almanac. If he actually followed his own advice, maybe these old saws passed down over the years have some validity. After all, Franklin lived to an exceptionally old age for his times, and died a prosperous man. We can all hope to do as well.
