It was some years ago that I heard the expression, “slow-racing.” A friend of mine used it to describe two cars side-by-side on the expressway going just under the speed limit while neither gains on the other – and frustrating the heck out of everyone trapped behind them.
This term came to mind recently because I’ve just gotten my annual reminder that there’s a certain type of people out there who have made slow-racing a way of life. They’re the kinds who are stuck in a rut and afraid that any innovation is either going to make them work harder; or worse, make them obsolete. So, their motto is “change is bad – let’s just keep doing what we’ve always done.”
In my nearly 40 years of working in and around the federal government, “let’s just keep doing what we’ve always done” [outside of not doing anything at all] has got to be my least favorite attitude for doing business. I’m the kind of guy who loves thinking of newer, better ways to do things. And if someone else thinks of a sensible better way, I’m all on board trying to make it work. Just move forward.
And so I tolerate this time where a nepotistic few get their shot again at spinning their wheels doing nothing for the audience — doing their best to show us how it’s [not] done. But I’ll never understand a person whose greatest accomplishment in their work seems to be the perfection of the art of the slow-race.