Parenting is hard. Nearly everyone's a rookie. We read some stuff. We observe others. We go with newly-informed gut and hope for the best.
When it comes to handing out compliments they often sound like this, "You finished your homework super fast!", "I barely noticed you left and your back already!""Wow, you cleaned your room quickly."
In the workplace we find ourselves saying, "Great turn around on that, thanks." Day in and day out we are bombarded with rewards for speed. It's the compliment of choice. It's a measurable reality. It's also micro suggestion that speed matters more than other things.
As modern parents and employers we can't help ourselves--despite the chatter to the contrary--we reward children and employees for finishing tasks quickly even if the task was not about time. I suppose most of our parents did the same thing, and our respective bosses still do.
For better or worse and for the love of one-click next day delivery, we've come to expect speed as a given.
But what are we willing to give up if we must?
There's an old saying that suggests that there are three things that we can expect from a person doing a task for us: speed, affordability and quality, but that we can only pick two at a time.
If we want it fast and cheap, don't expect quality. If we want it cheap and high quality don't expect it to come quickly. If we want it fast and high quality it won't be cheap.
Is that saying now outdated or has the bar been lowered on cost and quality?
I'm going to take some time to think about that . . . because no one is really expecting an answer any time sooner . . . or ever, really.