HASTE

A young man walked into a hut and found an old woman cooking food. The young man was tired and hungry. Disturbed by the sound of footsteps of the stranger, the old woman looked up and questioned his identity. The young man introduced himself as a poor traveller who was walking for few days without food and requested her for food. The old woman took pity on the stranger and offered him food. The young man, severely hungry, hurriedly picked up a handful of food from the center of the plate only to drop it as quickly as he picked it up. The food was piping hot, and the young man wrung his hand in pain.

“You exactly did what Shivaji does”, exclaimed the old woman.

“Why do you say that”, asked the young man who got intrigued by the old woman’s statement.

“Shivaji is acutely hasty”, said the old woman. “He leaves aside small forts and hurries to capture big ones overlooking the basic premise that he must move step by step. Control of small forts gives advantage to attack the big ones. The food served hot cools faster at the edges. Instead of taking food from the edges, where it is cold, you chose to pick it up from the center, thus hurting your fingers”, concluded the old woman. The young man bowed to her for teaching him the lesson that haste is waste. The young man was Chatrapathi Shivaji.

“Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast”, said William Shakespeare

Leaders are always expected to be skilled at decision-making, arriving at their decision as quickly as possible. Great leaders are masters at this skill. They are decisive and decide quickly without wasting time. They act in urgency but not in haste. Many of us mistake haste for urgency. Haste leads to acting too quickly without analysing, seeking, or gleaning through the available information leading to irrational decision-making. Urgency, on the other hand, is going through all the set and rational processes in a faster time frame. ?Hasty decisions are often found to be rash and impulsive which may not work in favour of your organization. The consequences of hasty decisions may force the leader to backtrack on his decisions. Great leaders, hence, take time to decide. They seek all information, feedback, consult experts and involve all stakeholders before deciding. They act with all urgency but not in haste.

“Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste”, said Benjamin Franklin. Great leaders adhere to it.

I remember this Panchatantra story which beautifully explains this concept.

There lived a man with his wife in a small village. They were blessed with a son. The man brought home a mongoose, to be a pet, so that it can safeguard his baby boy. The mongoose and the child became close friends. Both the man and his wife loved their son and the mongoose equally. However, the man’s wife was always a little skeptical about the mongoose being near the child. One day the man’s wife had to go to the market to buy vegetables. She left the child with her husband and proceeded to the market. Soon after, the man left to the neighborhood to fetch some wood. He left the child with the mongoose as he would be home soon. Meanwhile the wife returned home and found the mongoose at the door with a blood-stained mouth. She presumed? the mongoose had killed her child and in anger, she ?killed the mongoose. She rushed inside to see the state of her child only to find? the kid was sleeping peacefully on the mat. She found a snake which lay dead close to the child. She understood that the mongoose had killed the snake to protect her son. Her haste had resulted in the death of the loyal mongoose.

“People forget how fast you did a job, but they remember how well you did it”, opined Howard Newton. ?

Think before you act. Take a pause. Seek more clarity. Seek information and feedback. Seek help of colleagues and experts rather than acting on your emotion. Practice patience. Listen first and listen completely to understand. Consider the outcomes. Ask questions to understand the issue better. Practice mindfulness to stay calm and composed in all situations to avoid haste and to become a better leader.