I had a situation at work this week that made me stop and think for a little while. The details of the conversation will probably be meaningless to most, but the question that emerges out of the situation is the more critical thing to focus on. Here's some background (with names changed):
We had to make a production decision for a customer and there were 2 options – one less expensive and the other more expensive. Knowing this customer Ashley made the decision to use the less expensive option (this seemed to be the right decision). Pat (who was ordering the piece) caught me 20 minutes later and we chatted about the situation. The same question – less or more expensive – was posed to me. Pat & I checked the quote we sent the customer and, interestingly, we had included the more expensive option. The decision was then made to order the more expensive (& right) option - given what we had quoted the customer.
Later in the day Ashley and I discussed the project. It came up that Pat changed things to order the more expensive piece after doing some research and finding the appropriate course of action. Ashley says to me, "But that's not what I told Pat to do". To which I responded, "Isn't our job to get it right for our customer?"
I left this conversation not feeling good about the relationship with Ashley, but feeling good that the right decision was made for our customer. The question that still sits in my mind is this: How often do we choose being right over getting it right? They are not always the same thing.
Being right appeals to the ego, the false self. It appeals to the part of us that longs to be seen as competent, good enough, capable, and many other things. Doing it right? Well, that actually takes humility and grace…since this means that sometimes we will not be right. That crushes the ego and all the false self wants to do is strike back in defense. The true self knows that it's not just about us and understands that being wrong is just a part of life…its response is love, grace (for self & others), and perseverance.
My longing is to do it right, but so often I find myself wanting to be right. Pride is a war that's waged everyday for me. Most days it can be a bloody mess…but there's hope. There are those days where the question on what to choose becomes very clear and I actually get it right.
Posted by Donovan Bergman
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