Sharpen The Saw — Only 3 Mins
A mentor once said this to me:
Seven habits of highly effective people
- Begin with the end in mind
- Sharpen the saw
I got confused, because I remembered that Sharpen the Saw was the 7th on the list. So I corrected him: Stephen Covey said Sharpen the Saw is the 7th habit.
He replied:
Well, sharpen the saw is the 2nd habit for me.
It took two months for me to register this message.
Another story is showing up now. Not from the same person, but along the same thread:
A very fast wood cutter was once asked what he would do if he were told he had only five minutes to cut down a tree, or die if he failed.
“Well,” said the wood cutter, “I would spend three of the five minutes sharpening my ax.”
The importance of sharpening the saw
Stephen Covey opens the chapter on Habit 7 with this story:
Suppose you were to come upon someone in the woods working feverishly to saw down a tree.
“What are you doing?” you ask.
“Can’t you see?” comes the impatient reply. “I’m sawing down this tree.”
“You look exhausted!” you exclaim. “How long have you been at it?”
“Over five hours,” he returns, “and I’m beat! This is hard work.”
“Well, why don’t you take a break for a few minutes and sharpen the saw?” you inquire. “I’m sure it would go a lot faster.”
“I don’t have time to sharpen the saw,” the man says emphatically. “I’m too busy sawing!”
I behaved like the man sawing down the tree in this example — for a long time. It’s a foolish act, but I didn’t see it.
Now I do — better.
And I understand this now:
- A blunt saw is one that cannot cut.
- A blunt human is one who cannot make things happen, even if they wish to or have the will to do so.
So I’m gonna lift Sharpen the Saw up to the 2nd position as well.
It doesn’t have to take hours
Remember the example about chopping the tree?
I looked it up and I discovered the time frame was actually really short:
- 5 mins for chopping down the tree
- 3 mins for sharpening the axe
But I remembered it was hours… so I dug further, and I discovered that people had inflated the amount of time it takes to sharpen the axe from 3 mins to several hours.
It doesn’t take much.
But it takes deliberation.
Take care of yourself, so you may create the change you seek.
