I was doing some work outside today. I was removing some plants that I am assuming birds or another animal migrated to my flower bed. It was not exactly the most enjoyable of work but it did require a level of detail to ensure that all of the beginning plants were gone. As I was working on the task I could not help but think about content to create for the blog.
I was fortunate to have grown up on a farm. I have worked on many projects around the farm and in the home. I have grown to love doing work with my hands. It is always rewarding to begin a project and see the final result. To see the creation of your labor. I was taught that when you do something. You do it with purpose and to the best of your ability. The work you do is a lasting impression of the person that you are.
Often working on a farm leads to you working on another's farm. It was not uncommon for me to work in the fields of others putting up fence or hay. During this time I got exposed to other's work. This experience was further catalyzed while working on my first jobs as a young adult. What I learned was that not everyone works the same or holds the same ideal of how work should be completed. This brings to my mind a quote from Henry Ford, “Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” This quote has always resonated with me growing up. It validated the words of my father and his actions while completing work.
While working with others this quote and ideal was shattered often by some individual's actions. I grew to learn and understand that we all place different values on our work or how we perceive certain levels of work. I learned to some people what I would consider a "get it through the day patch" was their equivalent of a permanent fix. Does this make them wrong for handling things this way. No, but there are certain limits in my mind on this subject matter. Maybe some will argue this point with me. If you do put it in the comments below. I would love to read them.
So let us explore the limits. Going back to the quote from Henry Ford. I want to place some context on this quote. I am thinking he was speaking to work that you do for others. I think that when you are doing work for someone else that you should without a doubt do things right. If you do not want to do quality work on your own equipment. The equipment is only used by you. Then I feel you have every right to treat what is yours how you see fit. When you are doing work for someone else. Then you should only do things right. That is the responsible and ethical way of handling things. It also speaks volumes to your character with how you do work for others.
I can personally attest that I have found issues with the work I have had other's perform on my personal items. I have found pieces of my car not replaced after a mechanic worked on it. I have found parts missing that were there. I have even had physical damage done to the item after I left it with someone to fix it. I have had places try to cover this up and I have had service providers do the right thing and tell me. To me mistakes happen and things can get broken. Accidents happen. Do the right thing and tell the owner if something happens. This goes back to doing the right thing. This also speaks volumes to your character as well. It is also a great way to earn trust with your customers.
In the end doing the right thing does not take a great amount of effort. Doing the right thing does not require an audience. In the end you knew it was the right thing to do and you did it.
I do believe that the energy we place out in the world has a way of coming back to us. I know I personally would rather have good energy come back my way. Sometimes people want to argue this point with me. Saying something along the lines of well I do everything right. So why did this bad thing happen to me. In the end sometimes bad things happen and there is no real reason to point to why it happened.
I feel we often spend so much energy trying to figure out the unknown. We often have to make logic of things in our mind to accept them. Sometimes, there is no real reason to point to why bad things happen. Bad things happen to good people and we spend a lot of time talking about it. We spend a lot of time trying to figure out why it happened. We spend a lot of time talking about how it was not fair for such a nice person to experience that. Yet, when something bad happens to a person that is not really the nicest. There often is no exploration of why it happened. It may not even been thought about. It may have even received a little remark of well they deserved that.
In the end we should all strive to do the right thing. Follow the Golden Rule and work on being respectful with the level of work we do for others. The effort we show to others, the level of respect, the quality we bring to our chosen profession. It speaks volumes about us. It also can be very influential in the people we serve. This could spark change. It could influence others to do the same. Just imagine the change in a community.
I know this article does not go into all factors that influence quality of work. The main focus was getting others to think about how their quality of work reflects on them. It also has a direct impact on the people they work with and supply services to. This can have a ripple effect and travel through a community. I think overall we as a society should be thinking about the bigger picture. How we work and the purpose we bring into our work has an impact. It matters. It ends up being an influence for good or negative energy.
I hope you enjoyed this article. Have a great rest of the week!