Measure Twice, Cut Once

[Nazreen]

I believe that most of you, if not all, would have already heard of the saying "Measure twice, Cut once" but did you know that this age-old saying is not only applicable for dressmakers who painstakenly measure the cloth, measure again to make sure that the pattern has the correct measurements, and then after that cut the cloth? It is also not only applicable to carpenters who measures the wood twice before cutting, to civil engineers who builds homes and other high-rise buildings, nor to bakers who makes delicious cakes and pastries but is applicable to each and every profession in the world.

Chemists have to measure twice before mixing solutions so as not to blow up their chemistry labs. PHP and Web Programmers have to measure twice to check the syntax and overall logic of their scripts and programs before actually running it. The list goes on and on.

I'd bet that you're already probably thinking how this rule of thumb can also be applied to your day jobs. Am I right? Anyway, since we're in the discussion of business, I'd like to share with you how the saying "Measure twice, cut once" can also be applied in business. In business, we should constantly measure our progress, or lack there of, in reaching our business goals.

I'd guess that thinking of where you are now with regards to your business goals isn't enough and doesn't just cut it. In order for you to stay on course, you need a visual representation of every progress you've made towards your goals. This way, you can see your progress with your own eyes and not just imagine it. Once we've got a correct measurement of our progress, we can then implement effective steps into achieving our goals.

If however our measurement is wrong, then this will be very costly because we would have then wasted our time, energy and resources into achieving something that's incorrect. You would then be redoing your work and work even harder to finish your tasks. Remember that working hard doesn't necessarily mean that you're getting the task done effectively.

If you know of any other applications of this saying with regards to business or any comments, please feel free to share it here.