How to Speed Up By Slowing Down

I have always been an action-oriented kind of person. For the most part that has served me well, but in my younger years my impatience with anything that didn't seem like forward momentum did cause me some setbacks—until I came to an important realization.

I would simply ignore things that didn't capture my attention in my haste to "get on with it." Inevitably, that meant my grades would suffer, and since a failing grade was not an option, I would then go back and do the studying and the work I should have done in the first place in order to catch up. Eventually I realized that for a guy who valued his time so much, I was spending too much of it re-doing what I chose not to do right the first time.

This is a lesson we often need to be reminded of, especially as the pace of our lives seems to get faster: Sometimes it takes longer to fail than it does to succeed.

The core principles of our popular Facially-Generated Treatment Planning workshop is all about taking the time to do it right: making the right diagnosis, taking a full set of photos, presenting a well-thought-out comprehensive treatment plan. Many dentists look at this kind of approach and think, "I don't have time for all that. I only schedule an hour with the patient and there are other things I have to get to in that time."

But then what happens? The dentist presents in a rushed way, using whatever information he or she has at hand. If the patient doesn't accept, try again next time; and the next time. Yet the simple fact is, the dentist who invests the time to do a truly comprehensive evaluation and inspiring treatment plan up front has a much higher success rate.

It may not seem like it at first glance when you are up against inevitable time constraints in your day, but there is real value in taking the time to give a prospective case the full measure of your attention and expertise. Sometimes you need to slow down to speed up.