A woodcutter strained to saw down a tree. A young man who was watching asked “What are you doing?”
“Are you blind?” the woodcutter replied. “I’m cutting down this tree.”
The young man was unabashed. “You look exhausted! Take a break. Sharpen your saw.”
The woodcutter explained to the young man that he had been sawing for hours and did not have time to take a break.
The young man pushed back… “If you sharpen the saw, you would cut down the tree much faster.”
The woodcutter said “I don’t have time to sharpen the saw. Don’t you see I’m too busy?”
I see this parable practiced daily in many corporate settings. Someone is doing a long-winded process that could be significantly shortened while achieving the same result. When asked about "sharpening the saw", the response is often "I don't have time." The result is that the worker pays over and over again to achieve the same yardage.
This is this clearly not an effective solution. Why not sharpen the saw?
