The title is inspired from the concept of a “tactical retreat” so eloquently expressed in this SovietWomble video [warning: strong language]
“Giving up” is usually hard for me to do.
I remember learning about the donkey in the well[1] and being taught to “endure to the end” when I was young. So once I’ve committed to doing something I tend to see it through.
My wife points out how this has manifested itself in my becoming a program manager, where I aim to deliver everything on time, with quality, no surprises.[2]
Sometimes though, you need to tactically quit a project. Especially a DIY project.
Recently I was mentally preparing myself to push through the next phase of creating the sturdiest kitchen table chairs in the world.
For context, I designed a chair to match the farmhouse table I built during my sabbatical last fall, and had built a prototype. The post linked above details that process, and I planned on making three more chairs to complete the set.
But even while making the prototype I was dragging my feet; as the picture shows, I didn’t finish the backrests, stain, or seal the chair. I delayed those tasks several times, and opted instead to work on a different project, clean, read, or play a game.
However, time was running out; my kids’ desk chairs were literally falling apart, and I realized that if I made the remaining three kitchen chairs then I could replace their desk chairs with the best current kitchen chairs and I’d take their current desk chairs to the dump with some other stuff that had piled up[3].
Was that confusing? Probably! I made a handy diagram to explain:
So I picked a date to complete the chairs and loaded my car with wood.
The day before my big planned wood shop day I was browsing Nextdoor’s free section. To my surprise, someone had just posted that they were giving away five beautiful Ikea chairs that were a great match for the farmhouse table I had made. Plus, it came with a nice round table we could use for board games.
I quickly emailed the owner and arranged to pick them up. Before heading out I unloaded the lumber I’d purchased for new kitchen chairs, shaking my head the entire time at my wasted effort loading the wood in the first place.
I drove over and fit the table and all five chairs in my CRV[4]. I then hurried home, way more excited than I should have been.
I brought the chairs inside and quickly did the musical chairs (heh) of replacing the kitchen table chairs with the new Ikea chairs, and then replacing the kids’ desk chairs with the nicest of the kitchen chairs (see flowchart above).
And as an added bonus, my wife got a chair for her sewing desk and I got a chair for my work table in the garage! (I made sure to give her the 5th Ikea chair since it has a padded seat, while I took the remaining old kitchen chair. Chivalry, y’all!)
Through it all, I couldn’t have been happier. While I wasn’t able to recoup the cost of the wood I’d purchased for the remaining three chairs because I had already made some preliminary cuts on them, I had saved myself a ton of work and could still return some unused hardware.
And since we didn’t need any more chairs (not even a super sturdy one) I took it apart for use in the future[5]:
Lessons learned? A few:
- If you’re dragging your feet on something, pause and reflect. What’s holding you back? There may be a gut feeling telling you something’s up that your brain isn’t aware of.
- Keep in mind the real goal of your project: is it to remove a specific pain point or to add a specific benefit? Could it be that you want to do it just because everyone else is doing it too? Is it to simply use up material, like in a scrap challenge? Or did someone mention it and you think they want it done, but you haven’t confirmed with them?
- In this example, the real goal was to replace chairs that were falling apart, with a secondary goal of having chairs that matched the table. I ended up doing exactly that, just in a very different way than expected.
- A tactical quit, or change, of plans may be much better than pushing through it.
- Be flexible and think outside the box (or in this case, the chair) for solutions.
Note that there’s definitely nuance here; not everything should be quit at the first (or even first several!) roadblocks, but when you’re facing a continued slowdown it’s good to reflect on your real goals, sanity check against your priorities, consider alternate paths to reach them and then adjust as needed.
So: don’t tactically quit as your first option when a project is behind, but know that it is an option.
[1] The Donkey in the Well:
An old donkey fell into a well. She cried for help and the farmer tried to figure out what to do. After some time the farmer decided the animal was too old to rescue, and the well needed to be covered up anyway.
So he grabbed a shovel and began to throw dirt into the well. When the first load of dirt hit the donkey she cried out and looked around for a new place to stand. As she moved, the dirt fell off her back.
As the dirt continued to enter the well, the donkey kept moving. Whenever dirt hit the donkey she shook it off and stood on top of it. As the farmer kept shoveling, the donkey kept shaking it off and taking a step up.
Pretty soon the old donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off, leaving the farmer in shock.
[2] That is a line from one of my most influential mentors at Google, and I hope to post more about it soon!
[3] I love going to the dump. It’s weird, I know; I have a whole post about my love of landfills explaining why.
[4] More evidence for the magic of CRVs!
[5] Luckily I’ve since been able to use almost all of the wood in other projects! Coming soon: a bird stand and garage bench.