All Talk and No Action
For every one of us who has been in a meeting that could have been an email, the wise king of Proverbs has one for us:
There is profit in all hard work,
Proverbs 14:23
but endless talk leads only to poverty.
Many of us who have spent our lives in the builder class know this all too well. We know that ideas only go so far, and at some point, you need to go head down to get work done. We measure our productivity in what is accomplished– whether it’s lines of code or the house standing in front of us.
When problems come up, the builder realizes that sitting around all day discussing the problem is less effective (sometimes) than just getting the job done. And sometimes, “getting the job done” causes much more work for us in the future!
And that’s where the managers have to come into play. They need to know the right mix of talk and work, the right time to do a ton of design work, and when it’s just time to get something to market. The builder who is also a manager or team leader should be keenly aware of this, and less likely to fall into the trap of thinking that all talk is worth it.
Much of the talk can be focused in the right direction and with a clear aim. This is why there is a lot of training for leaders (and those who would be leaders), in how to strike this balance.
We need to remember the proverb– don’t get so caught up in talking that you don’t end up doing, for the profit comes through hard work.
