Busy Vs. Productive

The story of the three little pigs is an interesting one. Each pig decided to branch out and pick the material that they would use to build a house. There was a need to build a house as their advisory, the wolf, was coming their way.

The first pig decided to build with straw. He did this out of convenience as he was lazy and didn't want to work very hard, only to find out it was not enough to keep the wolf from blowing his house away.

The second pig was willing to work a little hard and built his house using sticks. It was when he finished building his house that the wolf appeared. The wolf blew and blew, and blew until knocking down the house of sticks.

The third pig worked hard and built a house of bricks. His house took time, but it was strong and he even had all of the things for comfort and safety. The wolf came around, but despite giving it his best attempt, he was unable to shake that house.

“Success isn't always about greatness. It's about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” - Dwayne Johnson

While being busy and being productive seem similar, there is a difference between being busy and being productive. Being busy means that you are moving a lot. On the other hand, being productive means getting the right things done.

In the story of the three little pigs, we see the first pig who was busy, but not productive. The second pig seemed to work a little harder, but his results indicated that while he was busy, he wasn't productive. It was the last of the three, who grabbed bricks to build his house and even made it into a home with all of the things he needed. If the goal here was to avoid the wolf (which it was) then only one out of the three succeeded.

There is an interesting stat that says that 86% of corporate executives, employees, and educators say that ineffective communication is a big reason for failures in the workplace. In the story of the three little pigs, they were working alone, and yet they all had the same goal -- stay alive. Yet you and I may not work alone, we may work in teams, and therefore communication - effective communication - needs to be at the top of the list in importance. Understanding what the goal is and what needs to get done to make it a reality is a must.

Final Thoughts.

Do all leaders work hard? No. Some are busy but not productive in the pursuit of completing the goals set within the team. It is that busyness that affects communication, affects consistency, and affects any possibility of building something that will withstand any outside attacks. No team is impervious to outside attacks and withstanding them is going to require a clear vision, the willingness to work hard, and consistency.

So, which one of these characters within the story are you? Are you too lazy to produce something everlasting? Or are you working just hard enough? Or are you willing to go all in to make something great?

The choice is yours.