There Is Nothing So Useless
“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” ~ Peter Drucker
I saw this quote and almost passed it over because I didn’t want to reflect on it. The answer is probably obvious: “Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt.” I think I can safely say we’ve all been there at one time or another in our lives, right? There have been times that we have all been on the wrong track but, hey, we were busy working on something so whether it was right or it was wrong, we at least wanted to get it done.
What kind of philosophy is that? It’s the philosophy that comes from a world tainted and steeped in sin. We often feel that we need to prove ourselves and we don’t bother checking to see if we’re right or wrong in the process. We just want to prove ourselves. That is the philosophy that inducts people into gangs. That is the philosophy that encourages people at work to commit crimes in order to get ahead. When we do things just to be accepted or noticed, we might be in the wrong and may not even catch ourselves thus sinking down into the mire more and more.
Drucker knew this quite well. He was an Austrian management consultant, educator, and author. Born in 1909, Drucker died in 2005. His writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation. He wanted to make sure that businesses produced efficiently as well as ethically.
Taking short cuts just to get something done even though it shouldn’t be done doesn’t seem to make any sense, does it? Yet we often engage in such practices. When we do so, we are showing that we have left the values of the Lord behind and have embraced the values of the world. Don’t do that. Stand your ground. Hold firm to the faith and do what the Lord calls you to do, whether or not the world would endorse your actions.
FAITH ACTION: Make sure that what you do today is necessary and right and then do it to the best of your ability.