Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Mowing Straight

Here it is, another lawn mowing entry. It seems that we learn much from our dislikes...something about what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Well, I don't feel stronger, but it helps with the perspective.

So, there I was, mowing, again. This time, I'm pondering how difficult it is to keep my lines straight. To be honest, I'm not even sure why I bother, given that no one really looks at my lawn besides myself.

Of course, the real reason is that it means less rework, and given how much I enjoy mowing the lawn, rework is definitely something that I work hard not to do... (um, right)

So, how do you keep your lines straight? I'm certainly not going to go get a plum line or buy some laser sight or something like that. So, I do it the old fashion way: pay attention to where I'm at and where I'm going.

I noticed something, though. If I concentrated on only where I was at, to ensure I was lining up with the last line, I tended to make more mistakes. However, when I looked out a little further, I tended to do a better job of keeping the line straight.

I've found that this works with helping to keep a project moving smoothly. If all you do is fight fires and concentrate on what's immediately in front of you, you'll make more mistakes, head off in the wrong direction and lose your perspective. Keeping some view of what's coming ahead and where you want to go helps keep things in perspective and ultimately improves quality.