Shortcuts. Who wouldn’t want a way to achieve something faster, make quicker progress, or arrive at our desired destination sooner? Shortcuts seem efficient, smart, and easy. When you think about it this way, it is easy to see the seduction of shortcuts. But are they all that we hope or want them to be?

I’ll give them a qualified “maybe.” Here’s what I mean.

Before everyone relied on the GPS on their phone to drive everywhere, some people looked for shortcuts. They heard it was faster, so they took the back roads. Did the shortcut work?

Sometimes.

But this article about shortcuts isn’t a stroll down memory lane.

I want to help you discern when a shortcut might be wise, and when to avoid them like a hungry gator on a golf course.

Good Situations for Shortcuts

If you can find a shortcut or hack in these situations, go for it! In fact, in the right situation, it might be time well spent searching for them.

  • Completing a specific task. An app that helps you reduce the time steps take. A set of keystrokes that speeds you up. Specific help from AI tools. These are good examples of productivity shortcuts.
  • Reading more quickly. Speed reading is a shortcut (though there is no shortcut to learn how to do it).
  • Automating work. Technology tools may allow you to drastically reduce or even eliminate the time needed to do something valuable. If it can without unintended consequences, this is a good example of a shortcut.
  • Learning and memorizing things. There are approaches that can help us memorize and learn facts or procedures. Most people would be interested in these.
  • Building efficient routines and habits. When you create an efficient routine, it is self-automation! Finding ways to maximize time spent on things like cooking or exercise can create productivity advantages.

What’s common about these examples is a discrete goal with a defined productivity or time advantage. All of these involve getting the same or better result with less effort or time spent. When the situations you see in front of you look like that, perhaps a shortcut would be helpful.

But not everything in the world looks like that…

There’s No Shortcut Here 

Author and former US Navy Seal Officer Jocko Willink wrote:

The shortcut is a lie. The hack doesn’t get you there. And if you take the easy road, it won’t take you where you want to be: Stronger. Smarter. Faster. Healthier. Better. FREE.

Notice that the things he mentions are like the things on the list of positive shortcuts. (The only possible overlap? Faster – but I’m betting Jocko is talking about physically faster… for which the shortcuts likely won’t work.)

Here is a list of situations where shortcuts won’t get you what you really want:

  • Mastering fundamentals and skills. You can learn and memorize things more quickly. But the road to real success is to master the skills that are most important to you. When you invest in mastery, you create a sustainable, lifelong advantage.
  • Practicing. Sure, you can find more efficient routines. But nothing replaces practice, and no one can do it for you.
  • Building wisdom and insight. Wisdom and insight come from trial and error, and success. We gain these valuable things over time, and rushing won’t help. It will, however, reduce or impede the development of these valuable traits.
  • Nurturing relationships. Certainly, there are skills to help you be more effective in relationships. But nurturing a relationship isn’t about tactics as much as it is about time and effort.

What is common here? The items on this list are less discrete, more global, and ultimately more important. Remember that if it is important, it is worth the work.

I’ve proposed that there is nothing wrong with shortcuts – in a limited and specific set of situations. If you read or hear advertisements for shortcuts along the lines of “get rich quick,” stop and think before you buy. Consider the criteria I’ve shared. Then listen to your thoughts! The ad is playing to the seduction of shortcuts. Just make sure the shortcut will really give you what you want and need.

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Kevin Eikenberry is a recognized world expert on leadership development and learning and is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. He has spent over 30 years helping organizations across North America, and leaders from around the world, on leadership, learning, teams and teamwork, communication and more.

Twice he has been named by Inc.com as one of the Top 100 Leadership and Management Experts in the World and 100 Great Leadership Speakers for Your Next Conference. The American Management Association named him a “Leaders to Watch” and he has been twice named as one of the World's Top 30 Leadership Professionals by Global Gurus. Top Sales World has named him a Top Sales & Marketing Influencer several times, and his blog has been named on many “best of” lists. LeadersHum has named him one of the 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership in 2023.

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