Efficiency can cost too much:

Labor day has come and gone and I worry about work.  Not only the lack of it but also how the narrow focus on cost control has cheapened it.

Many people think that the point of efficiency is to reduce cost, but few realize that efficiency can cost too much.  Efficiency costs too much when society pays the price.

For example, efficiency gives us canned elevator music instead of soaring symphonies; bland warehouses instead of green parks; polluted streets instead of side-walk cafes.  You get the picture.

Inefficiency can be a bit wasteful, but it’s a small price to pay for beauty.  And for honest jobs.  Don’t forget that the mad scramble for efficiency has given us downsizing, rightsizing and outsourcing, all meaning the same thing - your fired.

If we allow ‘relentless efficiency’ to continue unchecked, our society will become inane, uninteresting and uninspiring.  As consumers, we do have the power to prevent that.  It’s called choice.

I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork dot com

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© 2009 James Henry McIntosh