The Quest for Efficiency: A Tale of Shipping Insanity

This is a cathartic tale. Maybe you can relate. I hope sharing this helps cleanse my mental and emotional palate.

In my career, I’ve tackled some pretty complicated challenges. Navigating the intricacies of the technology space, leading large teams through transformational projects, and driving innovation across industries are just a few examples. Yet, today I find myself utterly defeated by a task that should be simple: shipping 20 items to former colleagues.

Millions of people use the US Post Office and UPS every day without issue. They send packages, mail letters, and move things around the world with remarkable ease. But for me, these services are an anxiety-laden mess. An old friend and former colleague of mine shared this pain with me both virtually and in the scary Post Office on more than one occasion.

I set out with the best intentions. I wanted to ship 20 items to different locations efficiently. Handwriting each label seemed archaic, a step back in the age of automation and technology (not to mention that my handwriting becomes less decipherable with each use). Surely, there had to be a more efficient way to manage this task. So, I turned to the online services of the US Post Office and UPS, confident that I would find a streamlined solution.

What followed was an hour-long descent into madness. Navigating the labyrinthine interface of the USPS website, haunted by legacy accounts from years past, felt like an insurmountable task. Cleaning up these accounts, updating information, and trying to create shipping labels quickly became impossible. This went all the way to a great auto-prompt phone line that offered me my choice of hold music (Hip Pop, duh) only to hang up on me 4:33 minutes into our online relationship. (Was it me?)

Frustrated but determined, I switched to UPS, hoping for a more user-friendly experience. Alas, it was not to be. Similar account issues, combined with a convoluted process for creating multiple shipping labels, left me feeling like I was chasing my tail. The quest for efficiency had led me to a point of complete inefficiency.

As I stomped around my home office, angry in a way only a 50+ year-old can muster for such a simple problem, a thought struck me: handwriting those labels might have been easier. The very process I had dismissed as archaic suddenly seemed appealing in its simplicity. In my pursuit of a streamlined, modern solution, I had overlooked the straightforward path. Sometimes, the old ways are the best ways.

While doing this task by hand may indeed be more efficient in this instance, it highlights a deeper issue: the failure of technology to provide a solution that truly simplifies our lives. The tools and technologies designed to enhance efficiency can sometimes do the opposite, creating more headaches than they solve. This is a reminder that not all problems require high-tech solutions. But when we design solutions, we need to remember why we did it. In our quest for efficiency, we often complicate matters unnecessarily. Efficiency is not always about using the latest technology or finding the most advanced solution. Sometimes, it’s about recognizing the simplest path and taking it. Most critically, it requires being users of our own solutions (eating our own dog food) and building resilient, secure, and simple processes that really do make things better.

So, here I am, with 20 items still waiting to be shipped. My experiment with online shipping tools has ended in frustration, but I’ve learned a valuable lesson. Efficiency is not always about using the latest technology or finding the most advanced solution. Sometimes, it’s about recognizing the simplest path and taking it.

As I prepare to handwrite those labels, I do so with a newfound appreciation for the straightforward and the uncomplicated. In a world that constantly pushes us to do more, faster, and better, there’s something to be said for taking a step back and embracing simplicity. After all, the most efficient solution is the one that gets the job done.

Who am I kidding? I will spend another 2 hours beating my head against this to complete the task online before I handwrite those damn labels.