“One boy is a boy. Two boys is half a boy. Three boys is no boy at all.”
– Loren Stark, my grandpa, who’d have been 113 on June 20
My cousins and I always thought “working” together was a good idea.
Grandpa, not so much.
His theory, and it’s been proven out hundreds of times, was that if three boys did three separate chores, and then all met up for tomfoolery afterwards, the likelihood that any of the three chores got done went up exponentially compared to if we’d all “work together.”
It plays out in corporate America, too. Sometimes you need to get in a room and have quiet time. To think. To focus. More opinions does not often equal a better outcome — at least not when those opinions come at the expense of clarity, speed and focus.
Decision by committee can sometimes be safer, but it’s rarely better.
When one person owns the outcome, it has ownership. If two, three or more do, there’s no ownership at all.
Thanks, Starky. Another one that made zero sense when I was 11 that I use every single day over 40 years later. I miss you. But I remember.
Mollee Stark McCain says
My Dad Starky had a piece of advise that I heard from him many times.
If you have a job and get paid for eight hours you be sure you give eight hours of work.
Colleen says
I am sending this to my son, who is a counselor at a Boy Scout camp, surrounded by 8-11 year olds. He will love it!