The tyranny of ability

I finally realized why it’s taken me so long to write this blog post. It feels like bragging. But I’m going to do it anyway.

I’m good at doing stuff. There, I’ve said it. I tend to have a pretty broad, useful skill set. I can maintain and fix my own cars, motorcycles, and other machines. I’m pretty strong, so doing yard work and that sort of thing is within my grasp. I’m handy with tools, and can fix most things that break around my house, and can build things that we want to build. I can weld. I’m generally a fairly handy guy.

But you know what else that makes me? Guilty, and exhausted.

Why guilty? I feel guilty about spending money to have others do what I know I can accomplish myself. Why would I spend hundreds of dollars to service my car or motorcycle when I have the ability and tools do it on my own? Why would I have someone else cut my grass, fix my leaky plumbing, build a deck, fill a hole, or anything else?

That, of course, leads to exhaustion – if you keep trying to do everything you know how to do and have the ability to do, you’ll spend no time doing anything else, and you’ll never, ever finish what needs to get done, because you’re one person. The combination of guilt and exhaustion is what I call the tyranny of ability – the need to do something just because you know you can.

I feel guilty spending $ to have others do what I can do myself. Try to do everything you can. You'll never finish. This is the tyranny of ability. Share on X

I think I’ve learned something, however, from years of managing other people. In my day job, if I don’t delegate stuff, we’re going to fail. There’s simply too much for us to do for one person to accomplish all of it.

Another thing I’ve learned is this – focus on your core competency, and outsource the rest – or at least what you can afford. The company I work for is built on that principle. Our clients focus on their core competencies, and outsource recruiting and employment branding to us – because that’s our core competency. They can focus on adding value to their customers, while we provide value to them.

Focus on your core competency, and outsource the rest – or at least what you can afford. Share on X

With that in mind, I’m going to let someone else cut my grass, and maybe, just maybe, service my car.