My Dad was a farmer at heart and math teacher by financial necessity. Often, when students complained that they didn’t have time to do a homework assignment correctly, he’d challenge them “If you don’t have time to do it right the first time, when will you ever have time to do it again?”

I thought of his sage advice yesterday while speaking with one of our technical specialists. He is in the middle of a virtual fire fight at a customer site, helping to correct a design mistake made a few months ago that has now raised its ugly head.

“If they had only taken the time to do it right the first time,” he sighed. Apparently, because of time pressure, shortcuts had been taken when they shouldn’t have been, without evaluating the possible consquences. Now, the heavy price is being paid.

The lesson is the same as in the seventh grade math class — take the time to do it right the first time.

Tag: Identity