Are you good at giving directions?

Is there room for improvement?

If you are not sure about this improvement, read the following story. You may find that you do need to improve your directions.

A road crew supervisor in Minnesota hired Joe to paint the yellow line down the middle of route 32 heading up toward Bemidji. He was skeptical about hiring him since he didn’t have any painting background, but he appeared enthusiastic and told him that he really needed the job. At least his wife Mary told him so.

He explained to Joe that his work day would be to complete 2 miles of centerline on the road. He was set up with brushes and paint and his boss got him started. After the first day, the supervisor was pleased to find that he’d painted 4 miles of road in his 8 hour shift, instead of the two expected of him. He told Joe that he did an excellent job and said how pleased he was with his progress.

On the second day, Joe completed painting just the 2 miles of road that was asked of him. His supervisor was surprised, because on the first day, he had completed twice as much work. But he didn’t say anything, since 2 miles of road was the amount that the job required anyway. He decided to just accept it, and to look forward to the next day when he was sure that Joe would pick up the pace again.

On day 3, the supervisor was disappointed to learn that in his 8 hour shift, Joe completed painting only 1 mile of road. Joe was called to the supervisor’s office and asked what was the problem was.

“On your first day, you completed 4 miles of road, on your second day, 2 miles of road, and now on day 3, you were only able to complete 1 mile of road. What’s the problem, Joe?”

“Well,” Joe replied, “I’ll tell you what the problem is, but I thought a smart man like you would figure it out for yourself. Every day I get farther and farther away from the paint can.”

What is one way that you can give better directions?