For some of us who don’t have the opportunity to learn the subtleties of English, we blend similar words together without understanding its ramifications. In normal day-to-day conversations, we tend to generalize the meaning of words to facilitate a normal and easy conversation. However, in the court of law, the exact meaning of each word can change its outcome – win / lose.
To lots of people, efficiency and effectiveness mean very similar things – they often come together or one often lead to the other. However, in real life, there are lots of examples where one does not necessary translate to another. Here are some examples:
- Hybrid cars are efficient on gas mileage. However, if you only use your car occasionally, the gas mileage savings may not be enough to cover the upfront costs as well as battery replacement later. On the other hand, for a taxi, using fuel efficient cars can rack up savings very quickly.
- Companies that already have lots of spare capacity may not want to spend lots into improving operation efficiencies since those improvements gained may not bring them new businesses. Similarly, for companies that already have lots of back-orders, increased spending on marketing may just create even longer backlogs and ultimately more unhappy customers.
The above are just some examples where a ‘good solution’ may not be a ‘relevant’ solution. It is therefore more important to learn analysis skills than simply copying solutions.
Exercise
How is this related to your training? Give examples.