Ted Baumhauer, Ed.D.

Many times these two words are used interchangeably. Who wouldn’t like their organization to be more efficient? Yet they do have slightly different meanings. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines the two words as follows: Effective - producing a decided, decisive, or desired effect; Efficient - being or involving the immediate agent in producing an effect. The difference is that being effective produces desired effects, it is doing the right thing(s). Being efficient means taking action to get immediate results. Being efficient gets immediate results and being effective gets the right results. In order to be successful over the long haul we may need to slow down to be effective before we become efficient.

Doing what is right first is a better use of time than just doing something to get immediate results. This applies to the people you work with and especially training on the job. Steven Covey said "You can be efficient with things but with people you have to be effective." Teaching someone how to do a task on the job is best done right the first time. How much time is wasted training the same person over and over again? In the book The Leadership Engine, Noel Tichy suggests that excellent companies are not only learning organizations but also teaching organizations. Excellent companies reward those that know how to teach and mentor. By cultivating the skill of teaching these companies are grooming the next generation and are able to reinvent themselves in the next economy. Organizations that can develop a talent pool will be the long term winners.

The difference between effective and efficient may be small but it can produce huge differences in an organization over the long haul. How might you be more effective in your organization?

Ted Baumhauer, Ed.D.

December 2001