Templates; ready made resources you just grab and use are the best things ever, until you have an experience like mine.
Sometime ago, we needed to make registration forms for people signing up for our training.
I thought to myself: no need to fret over this, let’s get a template and use.
Sure enough, I downloaded a template online, lazily slapped on our name, logo and printed out the copies we needed….
Then embarrassingly found out the template I got was lacking a lot of things, basic info we needed where missing. Yikes! Back to square one.
I was so embarrassed when a trainee was asking where to fill in a particular info and we had to scribble it as a note on top.
As a young man that has taken a vow to be excellent or nothing. That stung badly.
However, I also learnt my lesson: never trust a template… no matter the reputation of the template.
Don’t trust the experts. Always check and cross-check and re-check everything you do.
Many of the times, when we embrace a template, it replaces original thinking.
When we fail to embrace original thinking, we have lost our advantage and unique strength.
