Morton Chalfy's Blog: In Praise of Inefficiency

In business, in war, in sports, the watchword is efficiency. Profits depend on it, lives depend on it and winning games depends on it. Life, it seems, is all about being efficient, often for the sake of efficiency as opposed to the optimum execution of the task. In energy accounts, after efficiency was identified as a major player in holding costs down, it became an automatic entry in lists of how to make the most of our energy dollars.

Since efficiency has come to equal dollars in the minds of the public and the media the charge of inefficient carries weight. One takes the long way round or the efficient short cut. Car companies can make smaller engines or more efficient ones that provide power at lower cost. With our entire society held hostage to the wrangling over how to spend our tax dollars the shibboleth of Greater Efficiency has joined Waste, Fraud and Abuse as rallying points.

But let’s not buy this piece of prevailing wisdom too uncritically. We are living beings, not machines. We need more from a walk than the shortest route, we need more from our transportation than the cheapest cost, we need more from our food than can be gotten from a granola bar. Efficiency has its place but not in the appreciation and enjoyment of life.

When one is at work, especially with lots to do, efficiency is the tool to use. When one is engaged in a major decision, say, which of several houses to buy, or even a minor one like, which of several restaurants to visit, efficiency should be no more than one of many factors to be considered. And not the most important one.  Where is the house? What sort of schools are available? What’s it do to my commute? How much do I like the house itself and the neighborhood? For these questions an inefficient, bouncing around, checking out one’s feelings, going over the same ground many times method, is likelier to yield a result one could live with for a long time. Eeny, meeny, miney, mo would be more efficient.

This is another plea to stop and smell the roses occasionally. Personally I find the long way round offers many more rosebushes along the path.