Recently, scientists and medical doctors have retracted some well-intentioned advice that has been shared for years with faithful audiences in search of the key to maintaining healthy lifestyles. The myth being debunked? The idea that power-packed multi-vitamins are desirable and helpful in providing the body with what was necessary to give our bodies a boost in staying healthy. With all of the talk about it being a "good thing" to get more vitamins into our systems, it seems that, according to some researchers, too much of certain vitamins are not only excreted from the body as excess waste, but have even been proven to be detrimental to one's health. In other words, the very "good thing" that was supposed to have been okay to get more of - because it was "good" - could be taken at a level that causes problems.
Most instances, where we speak with regards to too much of a good thing, we are usually referring to things that bring us pleasure - like cakes, Hostess snack cakes, candy corn, coffee, chocolate, in general. We even resort to using this adage when the recreational marijuana user finds that he or she needs the next fix a bit more desperately than the last time. And this, in fact, lended more significance to the findings: Because, unlike in the case of things we like doing, or eating, or seeing, vitamins and vegetables are considered necessary evils that we partake in out of obligation -- and usually not much more than that. How could this be? A finding like such could shake the very foundation of the argument that parents used to make us eat our vegetables, or take the steps instead of the elevator, in order to stay healthy.
So this got me to thinking: Do lessons like this actually also exist in business or in one's career development? The answer: a resounding "yes!" One can have too many rules (we call this too much red tape); or too many folks in management while not enough among the ranks (we refer this to having too many chiefs, not enough Indians, or having too many cooks in the kitchen). There can be a surplus of resources (overstocked) or too much products (poor sales performance); and so many other instances exist where, for all our best efforts, excess can create the very problems we've tried to avoid in the first place.
The irony of it all is that often many of the excesses in business occur when someone has over thought a situation: ordered too much, projected sales that were unfounded, or underestimated the impact of some factor on the economy. By far, however, one could assert that the most damage can be done when one spends more time planning than doing (i.e., the proverbial meetings to plan meetings). The point at which one stunts his or her own progress because of the energies that are spent in preparing to do a thing is the point at which one must determine that there is an inefficiency that has been created. And in most cases, at this point, it has become systemic in nature. Once an inefficiency has been detected, human nature is usually pretty dependable in working at correcting for it - or as we call it, troubleshooting the system. The hardest part, however, is the act of identifying a deficiency and resisting the urge to create a committee to attend to the task of figuring out where the problem is taking place. For my part, history has faithfully found that successful recovery from such inefficiencies has occurred when the organization or entity resorted to good ol' fashioned strategic measures or troubleshooting - quick, on-the-spot thinking. Nine times out of ten, it is out of moments like these that true leaders emerge, rising to the occasion to show his or her business prowess.
So something is still to be said for good old fashioned innovation and creativity. The moral of this message: Anticipate what you can, but at the end of the day, trust your instincts. In all likelihood, they are what have taken you as far along in your career as you are (especially if you have enjoyed any degree of "success" at what you do). With the workplace proving to evolve at such monumental paces, learn to embrace your adaptability to a variety of situations. At the end of the day, the two main virtues that the workplace can never get too much of are innovation and adaptability (the ability to change according to the situation).
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