Ah, efficiency – the too-oft used word that will make you a winner in corporate buzzword bingo every time. It’s a word that every manager (and consultant) loves to drop in meetings and at which every employee rolls their eyes when it is said. It’s been the Holy Grail of modern work culture for decades.
We obsess over it, optimize for it, and talk so much about it that alien cultures might think it is the workday altar at which we worship.
Here’s the kicker: after pushing through the stress and setbacks that come with change, we eventually settle into a groove where efficiency gains level off and becomes the new normal. But here’s the irony—just as the process hums along smoothly as efficiency gains plateau and become the norm, output quality can start to slide, even though the system itself keeps working like a charm.
Why? We are eager to step away from being in a state of change to one of known predictability.
Autopilot Kicks In
Inevitably, the time we’ve shaved off the old way of doing things gets filled with something else, so the change/improvement focus that turned the quality meter to a rapid boil gets turned back down to simmer. But it’s more than that. We’ve seen it happen again and again with the clients we work with. It’s as if once the process becomes smooth and seamless, we hit autopilot, set the cruise control, and work to check all the boxes—without even glancing out the window to see if we’re driving off a cliff.
Why does this happen? And more importantly, how can we stop it?
Efficiency’s Siren Call
At first glance, efficiency sounds like a no-brainer. Who wouldn’t want to get the same task done faster, with less effort? In theory, it’s all about working smarter, not harder. But here’s where things get dicey: when we focus so intensely on making the process smooth, we tend to forget the bigger picture. The goal is no longer producing something great but simply getting the thing done. It’s the quantitative trap that marketers, content creators, and creatives have fallen into forever. If you are being measured on the number of things you do versus the quality of things you do, of course, you will want to churn out as much, as quickly as you can.
Look at any project management software in today’s workplace—whether it’s Asana, Trello, Monday.com, or whatever flavor of the month your company is using. They’re all designed to break down projects into bite-sized, manageable tasks. You check off the boxes one by one, moving each task expeditiously from “To Do” to “In Progress” to that sweet “Done” column. Ding! Task complete. But here’s the dirty little secret: did anyone stop to wonder if the task was actually done well? Probably not. Because we’re too busy high-fiving ourselves for getting it done in the first place, sighing a sigh of relief, and hurrying on to the next task on the To-do list.
In the quest for efficiency, we’ve become masters of going through the motions. We prioritize speed and system over substance, thinking that we’re good as long as we meet our (boss’) deadline and check all the right boxes. Spoiler: we’re not.
Autopilot Mode: The Death of Creativity
Here’s where the real danger lies – when people go into autopilot, the magic of creativity, innovation, and fresh thinking gets strangled to death by the cold hands of routine. We stop asking questions like, “Is there a better way to do this?” or “What can we improve?” Instead, we ask, “What’s the easiest way to get this off my plate?” We often lean away from change because change complicates things, and who wants more complications in their lives?
Efficiency makes us comfortable—too comfortable. When we’re zipping through optimized processes, we often forget to inject critical thinking. Follow the steps. Tick the boxes. Repeat. But here’s the thing: when we stop thinking, we stop improving. When was the last time you got really excited about a task you’ve done 300 times before and can now finish in your sleep? … Exactly.
The Domino Effect: Quantity Over Quality
Ever notice how, once efficiency is achieved, the goalposts tend to move? Suddenly, the emphasis is on doing more, not necessarily doing better. In the corporate world, this is called “scaling.” You know the drill: “Great job on that webinar! Now, let’s do ten of them this quarter!” Never mind that the original webinar had a few hiccups, lacked a punchy call-to-action, or didn’t quite hit the engagement targets. It had 19.7% more registrants than the last one, so obviously, “it worked”, so let’s do it again, only faster and bigger.
Efficiency feeds into this mentality of quantity over quality because often, the thinking goes, “If we’ve streamlined the process, why not just crank up the volume?” This is exactly why your inbox is flooded with mediocre newsletters and why the latest software update sometimes feels like a half-baked effort. People are no longer thinking about how to improve; they’re only thinking about how to keep pumping out more, faster. And for many companies, Gen AI is only compounding this conundrum.
Continuous Improvement: Efficiency’s Best Friend
Now, anyone who knows or has worked with me is shaking their heads and checking the byline because I have been known to talk about (ad nauseum) efficiencies and process optimization. Add change management and governance to the conversation mix, and you’ve made my day. So please don’t think I have changed my tune – because I haven’t.
In his book The Effective Executive, management guru Peter Drucker explained, “Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing.” And he couldn’t have been more on point.
Efficiency is a good thing, and there isn’t a process in any discipline or industry that I can think of where efficiency isn’t a good thing, as long as it’s not done to the detriment of effectiveness. The problem is not efficiency itself but the mindset that we tend to adopt once we achieve it: the belief that once a process runs smoothly, it should be left alone. That, my friends, is where things start to unravel.
To keep things efficient and effective, we must inject a healthy dose of “continuous improvement.” Yes, my friends, I am talking about adopting a change-is-good mindset.
Continuous improvement concepts come in many forms and handles. In the world of manufacturing or tech, you might know this as Kaizen, Lean, or Six Sigma. For others, it might be TQM, PDCA, or the 5 Whys. But whether you are a black belt or have never heard of these concepts, don’t let the jargon scare you—continuous improvement is just a fancy way of saying: don’t get comfortable.
Newsflash: no process is ever truly perfect.
There is always room for improvement. That’s why every workflow—whether it’s planning a massive event or organizing a simple webinar—needs a built-in reflection stage. And no, I’m not talking about the kind of post-mortem where everyone sits in a circle and politely nods while someone reads off a list of “things that went well.” I’m talking about a brutally honest debrief and dissection of what worked, what didn’t, and most importantly, if the decision is to do it again, what can be improved next time.
Why Post-Mortems Are the Unsung Heroes of Great Work
Let me tell you a little secret: the best teams, the ones that are not only efficient but also produce great work, treat post-mortems as a non-negotiable part of their processes. They know that each time they revisit the process, they can catch things they missed, tweak the system, and, gasp, improve the quality of their output.
The simple truth is, if you’re not regularly learning from projects, tasks, and events, you will end up with a system that, while technically efficient, is churning out cookie-cutter content and experiences stuck in mediocrity. Whether you’re planning the company’s annual conference or sending out a weekly newsletter, there must be planned moments when everyone stops, reflects, and figures out what can be done better.
These reflections and retrospections can be deep dives into every step, stage, and outcome or smaller check-ins. Both provide value and should be done regularly. And don’t forget to bring in “outsiders”—stakeholders who contributed to or participated in the event, webinar guests, content providers, or event staff—to get a full 360-degree view of the process.
Efficiency vs. Effectiveness: You Need Both
In the end, efficiency and effectiveness are not the same things. Efficiency is about doing things right; effectiveness is about doing the right things. You can have the most efficient process in the world, but if you’re not constantly questioning, improving, and refining it, your output will eventually start to suck. Or worse, no one will even notice that it sucks because they’re too busy patting themselves on the back for how efficient they’ve become.
This isn’t just true for big, complex workflows. Even in the most mundane, everyday tasks, the moment you stop striving for improvement is the moment you stop caring about quality. And if no one’s looking back at what’s been done and how, no one will notice the slow, inevitable slide into mediocrity—until it’s too late, and your perfectly efficient system is producing nothing but forgettable fluff.
The Takeaway: Get and Stay Uncomfortable
Efficiency can make you lazy. There, I said it.
It lulls you into a false sense of accomplishment. The only way to fight this is to stay uncomfortable. Don’t fall for the fallacy that just because something is efficient, it is good, let alone perfect. The two are not intrinsically tied together. You need to build post-mortems into your workflow and then actually do and document them. Challenge your processes. Ask the tough questions, even if it means slowing down for a minute.
Efficiencies enable good, even great sometimes, but only when you take some of the time gained through efficient use of technology and aligned functions to stay vigilant and pay attention to the resulting outputs.
Because at the end of the day, what’s more important: getting it done quickly, or getting it done right?
You can have both—but only if you’re willing to put in the work.
