This is a trap we all fall in most of the time. Doing a job well in the beginning and losing focus towards the end to make a mess of it
Period
It was my sister’s wedding last week. So among zillions of things to be done for the wedding we had hired this 27 seater coach to transfer guest to the venue. We were supposed to start from home at 3 pm so had called the coach at around 2:30 pm to ensure no last moment hassles
On the day of the event, just to avoid any issues, I called the driver twice, once at 10 am and then again at 1.30 pm, to ensure he leaves on time. Around 2 pm, he calls to inform that he is at a five minute distance from my house. I co-ordinate with him and give him directions till he reaches near our main gate, only on the other side of the road.
I could see him from our balcony and was relieved that this part is taken care of . Then told him to take a u-turn and wait just outside the gate. By now I had mentally ticked off this task from the to do list and switched over to the other things.
Had almost forgotten about the coach for the next 50 minutes till it was 2.55 pm, just minutes before guest were about to board the bus.
I informed all the guest that there is a coach waiting down outside the gate that will transfer them to the venue. And as I turned towards the balcony to inform the driver, i was shocked to not find the bus!
How could that possibly be? It was there an hour back on the opposite side and all he had to do was take a u-turn. It can’t take him an hour for that. I called the coach driver, but just couldn’t get through, his number was continuously busy. I tried calling him many times…
Imagine my plight, the guests were ready to proceed and the bus was nowhere in sight! I called my car driver and asked him to search for this bus on the road. I too went down outside the gate, tried locating the bus. The five minutes i spent were most horrible as it was so hot and i was wearing a suit. I was waiting outside my gate hoping for some miracle. At the other end, could see all the guest coming down. I had lost all hope and was thinking of an alternate solution, just then my driver called me to say that he located the bus and it was on its way near the gate.
I couldn’t believe my luck! Thank God.
The bus arrived a minute later. Apparently he had parked it much before our gate as there was good shade there! I wanted to scold the driver but i realized it was my mistake after all. The function went off smoothly without any major hiccups
Later that evening I asked myself why did that happen.
I was so careful in the beginning then why did I mess it up at the end. It could have ruined the day. What could I have done differently.
Period
It’s very important to keep focus on the job till its complete. If the end objective of the task is not met , all the initial hard work is a waste even if one has come very close to finishing it. And worse nobody would sympathize with you.
When i saw the bus in front of me on the opposite side of the road I assumed my job is done, and did not wait till end to ensure the bus took the u turn and reached the gate. I lost focus at the end and in the process almost ruined the program. Luckily i got saved.
A few years back i was not so lucky
I had worked on this presentation for 2 days. And the day of the presentation I arrived 20 minutes late. The whole presentation was a disaster as no one was interested cause they were pissed off at me coming late! So even though the presentation was critical and i had done a good job there but it was my coming late which messed up the meeting.
So i guess have not yet learnt the lesson and hence thought of posting it to constantly remind me of this failure so i can now possibly learn from it.
Finish what you start.
