Break points in life

When I was a young engineer, I was passionate about writing the perfect code.

The fact that I had one of the best mentors in the organization spurred me on.

The first time I was writing an important piece of code for a new set up. Needless to say I was super excited and eager to impress my mentor.I tested  my code for various scenarios efficiency and running platforms.

But my mentor looked at my code for all of a minute and asked me one simple question..”Where are the breakpoints ?”

For the non techies – breakpoints are intentional stopping points put for debugging and pausing the programs.

And needless to say I had not put any breakpoints…cos they reduced the time for execution , made for unnecessary stops. And I simply felt they were not needed.

“Remember, Breakpoints are not just for pausing but they are important means of acquiring knowledge about a program during its execution.”

That advice stuck to me during my coding days. But then that advice is not just for coding.

Think its important that in life we put Break points occasionally

In every system, there’s a point where the system can not take more

In automobile, this is denoted by engine’s revolutions per minute (RPM).

If you push your engine past the maximum RPM allowed, it will eventually fail.

The thing is, every system ( whether human , organization ) has   a maximum point of tolerance.

When you cross the point of tolerance the results how usually in unexpected failures

But many people fail to realise this or assume that the maximum point of tolerance can be moved

• Can I push my body further without sleep?
• Can I ask my team to do more so that we hit our targets ?

In some cases the pushing does work and you see the desired benefits/impacts atleast in the short term. But continued disregard of the tolerance lines usually has long term impacts

But the fact is that there is another option.

Respect the tolerance line.

• If you are tired, go to bed. Wake up a bit early and try to see the problem
• If your team can’t do more without consequences, drop or delay one of your priorities and redistribute staff on a more focused agenda.

Maybe its essential to put breakpoints in our daily lives to evaluate the tolerance lines.

Photo by Vinicius Löw on Unsplash

Reference

Facts vs Opinions