Efficiency Simplified

Efficiency Simplified

Efficiency…efficiency…efficiency! From a peon to a CEO, carpenter to engineer, air conditioner to car, everything, everywhere, everyone looks for efficiency.

What is efficiency? No, I am not going to give a definition here that you can find millions in numbers over on the internet. You can find thousands of pages of motivational content on efficiency online. However, reading a English English definition doesn’t always help to assimilate a subject with our thoughts.

For example, I just Googled it and found that efficiency is defined as “the art of achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense. It’s not just about speed, but about optimizing resources and processes to create value. True efficiency transforms complexity into simplicity, turning potential into performance. It’s the silent force that drives innovation, sustainability, and growth, ensuring that every action taken is purposeful and impactful.”

Did you understand anything? Can you apply it in your life? Someone could do a Ph.D. on it, but it might not be useful in daily life.

So, as I used to do, the uniqueness of this site which many of you like and follow, writing some lucid examples to make it simple and applicable.

One day, the import executive of our company came to my office and said, “Sir, do not give me any work for the next two days because I need to create part numbers for around three thousand products.”

Let me explain how she does it. The part numbers should be created in such a way from the raw material or OEM part numbers that we can understand what the raw material used is, but the user cannot understand or Google it. According to the defined rule, she first reverses the number part. Then she reverses the alphabet part and adds it at the end of the reversed numbers. Finally, she adds a product short abbreviation of two letters (e.g., AB in the example below) at the beginning. This will be clear with the following example.

If the raw material part number is XY 346785, then the finished product part number is 587643, then add YX at the end and AB at the beginning.
So, XY346785 => AB587643YX

It is an interesting hidden formula, but she needs to do it by typing manually with great sincerity, as any mistake can create major losses later. So, obviously, it is 2-3 days of work, and a few mistakes cannot be ruled out when something is done manually.

I thought for a second, something clicked in my mind, and I told her, “It is a matter of a few minutes. Why do you need two days?”

She replied, cursing me based on our good relationship, “You bosses never value our hard work.”

She left, and I set aside the other work and started juggling with my Excel skills. Within 15-20 minutes, I managed to create a formula and called her over the phone, “Send the file to me and come to my cabin.” She predicted something positive and immediately rushed in emailing the file to my ID.

I showed her the formula. We pasted it into Excel in the next cell of a number and pressed enter. It created the desired part number within a fraction of a second. Then I dragged that cell (Shift+Ctrl+Down arrow) to the end of the sheet and pressed enter again. Within a few seconds, the entire column of around three thousand entries was converted into the part numbers she was supposed to spend two days creating. She was utterly happy. Not only it is fast, but it ensures zero mistakes when we use technology. The process followed for years was abolished within an hour using knowledge, desire, and intellect.

When I give examples from my own experience, I try to provide some proof to make the example authentic. Here, this is the formula that I created. You can type some numbers in Excel and try it yourself:
=TEXTJOIN(“”,1,MID(A1,SEQUENCE(LEN(A1),,LEN(A1),-1),1))
Note: Copy and paste the formula and replace A1 with the cell of your interest.

Efficiency is not just hard work. In my view, efficiency is the final product of the combined effort of “knowledge + positive desire + intellect.” If one has these three, they are surely an efficient employee, manager, or leader.

Not true for your car. Jokes apart, it is true for the manufacturing team members of your car. I won’t bore you by discussing Kaizen, Toyota, etc here.

I believe it’s always beneficial to share the good or unique work we observe at our level. This can inspire others to approach tasks differently and improve their efforts. The lives of Bill Gates or Charlie Munger, while impressive, don’t offer much practical guidance for us, as their ecosystems are entirely different from ours.

If we examine the work styles of employees in any organization, we can identify significant opportunities for improvement. Tasks that currently take hours or days could be completed much faster with the right knowledge. Of course for that panoramic knowledge is important while the majority work with their typical subject of work knowledge. Many employees rely on decades of experience and are proud of it, but they often resist learning new technologies. This is especially true for managers who are past mid-age.

Currently, data science is one of the most sought-after technologies and is poised to create a paradigm shift in work styles. Additionally, AI will greatly influence our work. While AI’s current capabilities are mostly limited to text writing and editing, and its generated images and videos are substandard or funny, not useful yet at all. Continuous learning of new technologies is essential for everyone. Without it, we won’t be able to adapt to the evolving technological landscape.

Think about how you can do something in a better way instead of relying on a system followed for years, even if it is a proven system. The world is changing, and every individual should keep pace accordingly.
—o—