[1] Intentionally Struggling – How short term inefficiencies lead to compounding growth

As a daily tea drinker, after moving into my new house I sought to install an instahot faucet and tank around the kitchen sink. Eager to tackle a new challenge, I enrolled the help of my Dad and his decades of home improvement expertise. Together we navigated poor manufacturer’s instructions as we struggled with the connection between the tank and water line. Eventually we fixed the issue by taking apart and reassembling a sealing mechanism. A year later, I still think about this problem solving experience with my Dad everyday while making tea.

While we could have paid a plumber to complete the job with far less effort, the experience not only helped me with home improvement skills but also had a broader application. Pushing into new domains alongside an experienced partner is an ideal forum for growth, and those learnings compound over time. Although this was my first plumbing project, I’ve subsequently fixed a shower mixer and replaced a bath faucet on my own.

We can apply this lesson in our daily work by mindfully taking on an otherwise delegated small project when we can survive the learning opportunity and have access to expertise as needed. This is also an effective managerial tactic by assigning team members tasks outside of their typical domain. While your productivity will very likely decrease in the short term, the long term broaden of skills will more than make up for it.