Adding value where it matters the most

“No matter how hard you work, someone else is working harder” – Elon Musk

I was about to leave the office on a Friday evening. It’s a good time for a coffee break, before joining the Friday evening rush.

Everyone around was relaxed and looking forward to the weekend. Ramesh was engrossed in some deep thoughts. His team was about to roll out a new release. As he left early to get back to his work, I started talking to the rest.

“I have a very interesting weekend project. We are building a ‘Rain Water Harvesting System’ in our housing society.” Vish started.

“Interesting, are you facing a shortage of water? Did you check the level of the underground water table?”

“Well, we did not check, Isn’t it a good idea to harvest rainwater?” Vish sensed the doubt in my tone.

“Definitely it is. Won’t it be more effective, if you contribute to a harvesting project where it is really needed?”

Many times we start doing something with a very good intention and put in a lot of hard work, without really investigating the required output.

Are you putting your efforts where they generate the most value?