“Hurry, scurry, worry, work” President Truman sighed during the during the MacArthur crisis. He concluded “I guess that is the way it is.1” That was the way it is and even if many feel it is the way it is today, it is not the way it will be in the future for people and organizations with integrity!
Harry S. Truman, according to David McCullough inTruman first read this quote, written by Reuben Anderson for General Glen Edgerton, during his supervision of the White House reconstruction in 1951.
Truman spoke these words during a time of fear and uncertainty in a nation that was still licking its wounds from World War II. The United States was rocked internally by McCarthyism, the threat of the Russian nuclear bomb in Europe and the potential for World War III in Korea.
Words with truth stand the test of time. Over 50 years later the world is still hurry, scurry, worry, work but now we have to do more with less. The advent of global competition, changing world politics, the population explosion and technology have made the world a place where “hurry, scurry, worry, work” is not enough to keep you employed.
The faster we go, the more we need precise and credible time based information in order to make accurate decisions that reduce the worry of how career investments will improve the safety and quality of our lives. We engage in a relentless exploration of changing ideas such as: management fads, Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame, live long and prosper medical/ financial techniques and/or instant enlightenment in eight easy steps.
We pursue our life style with confidence that because if everyone else is doing it, it must be okay. Even in the face of evidence to the contrary, we seek solace in the herd. There is safety in numbers yet we still do not want to be part of the herd all the time. So we differentiate ourselves in the diversity of materialism, intellectualism, recreation and trends in fashion, entertainment, or music. It is all good.
The problem is that it is just not good enough. There is never enough! We are driven to not only seek more good but to have it bigger, and better than it ever was.
King Arthur and his knights had the same problem. They decided that the Holy Grail was the ultimate in good, bigger, and best. It would bring peace and prosperity not only to its finder but to the whole land.
One by one, they each left the comfort of the castle and entered the woods. What was astonishing was that each left alone and each entered the forest in a different place. Each one of them had to find their own way to the Holy Grail. The way of the herd is okay but the way to the Holy Grail is ours alone.
I can hear the words now - been there, heard that, doesn’t work here. Hurry, scurry, worry, work is the way of the world. Accept what is, as it is. Be happy!
That‘s good advice but there is more.
Most people correctly conclude that integrity is a personal virtue but the idea has so much more to offer. It applies to systems, processes and performance. A data system has integrity if the information is untainted. A process has integrity if it is efficient and effective. Performance has integrity if the ends and the means are integrated.
“Hurry, scurry” means go here and there quickly. This is a sign that systems are broken and chaos rules the day. The secret to making order out of chaos is standardization. Disney knows that and so does Wal-Mart.
“Worry, work” means that people are concerned about work based results. This is a sign that organizational decision making and problem solving processes that determine actions may be broken. People have no confidence that their actions will lead to the results they need.
Integrity is also a personal way of life. It is defined as wholeness, consistency and purity.
The way of integrity balances work and family life. The way of integrity requires consistent adjustment so that sound financial, physical and social support systems can be structured and relied on. The way of integrity requires objectivity in a scientific approach to decision making and problem solving.
Each one of us needs to find our own way to the Holy Grail. It is not the way of the herd. It requires you enter the forest in your way at your time. It feels right and it is worth it to you and to you alone. It is the ultimate answer to “what‘s in it for me.”
