Sharpening The Saw (03-26-07)

On spring break about ten years ago, I took the time to read a great book that really changed my life. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People both confirmed and improved the way I chose to live.

It isn’t all that complicated. The first habit is to be proactive, which just means to get after life before life gets after you. Then, there is beginning with the end in mind, a little habit of visualizing your goals. Third, you should put first things first, which simply means to recognize what is important versus what isn’t. Fourth, the book advises that you should seek to understand before you seek to be understood, which, to me, is such an amazing concept that I will save it for a future column. The fifth habit is to strive to create win-win situations, and sixth is to create synergy, which means to find relationships where 1 + 1 is greater than two. Think marriage, where two people working together can produce much greater results than either person could individually.

But finally, the seventh habit of high effective people is to sharpen the saw. Stephen Covey, the author, uses a story to explain this habit. A man goes into his yard to cut down a tree that is blocking a beautiful view. He uses an old, worn out saw. It still has all its teeth and still cuts, but the saw is dull and rusty. So the man begins to saw and little by little he begins to saw through the thick truck of the large tree. (Now why Covey chose to tell the story with a saw instead of axe, I don’t know, except that “Sharpen the Saw” sounds more poetic than “Sharpen the Axe” as a chapter title!)

Another man happens to pass by and notices that the wood cutter is straining and sweating while only slowly cutting through the tree. He stops and asks the man, “Why don’t you stop what you’re doing and go sharpen that saw?”

“Can’t,” the man replies, gasping for breath. “I’m too busy cutting down this tree.”

The point is simple: that to be highly effective, you need, every now and again, to stop what you are doing, take some time for yourself, rest, reflect, and recreate. In other words, to sharpen the saw.

I remember this story because before I read about this habit, I was that wood cutter. Once I began a project, I didn’t like to stop for any reason, even if I was just spinning my wheels. While I got things done, molehills would grow into mountains and often I wasn’t satisfied with the final result. I might get that tree cut down, but I would be too exhausted to enjoy the improved view.

Spring Break is an excellent opportunity for both staff and students alike to sharpen their saws. It gives us a chance to gain a little breathing room and to reflect over all we have done this year.

For me, it gave me time to stop thinking - or at least to stop thinking about non-school things. I did many things this last week, but most emphasized physical labor over mental and verbal conversation.

I admit that recently, I have not felt nearly as “sharp” as I would like. Now, as I write this column, I am looking forward to getting back to the work of making HCHS a better place for our students and for our community.

The perspective I have gained is that while it may seem to be more time consuming to stop what you are doing, rethink, and recharge, in the end it actually is a much more efficient use of time. A teacher, especially, is placed under a tremendous amount of pressure, and sometimes the saw just scrapes and strains against the tree of knowledge.

But with a little rest and reflection, educators are able to do things such as read books such as The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Sometimes, sharpening the saw makes all the difference.