The Wisdom of Easy

“The path of least resistance”, “going with the flow”, “taking the easy way”, we have all been chastised for this behavior by everyone in authority over us since childhood. These admonitions came from our teachers in school, our pastors in church and our bosses at work. Why, because it is human nature to take the easy way. We may not like this fact, but it is a fact none the less. Knowing that, how can we use this natural human trait to our advantage as woodturners, teachers and mentors?

From a teaching perspective, the easier we can make it to understand the central message in any lesson, the more effective we will be. Don’t imply a truth and hope your audience makes the connection, state the truth flat out. In the church, we often quote scripture directly to accomplish that. In a wood turning demonstration, stop what you are doing, turn the lathe off, look at your audience and tell them directly clearly and emphatically what you want them to know.

I begin my teaching sessions with the summary statement first. Here is an example: “When we are finished here today, you will understand exactly how to use a bowl gouge to make the three fundamental cuts when turning a salad bowl.” If your students know where they are going, that automatically becomes the path of least resistance. When the process is clear and the steps are well defined, folks will enthusiastically participate more often. If you present something as difficult and mysterious, human nature is to turn away. Instead, present difficult tasks as something which can be accomplished when you know how and let them know you are there to reveal all of the secrets to success.

As a marketer of turned wooden items, we need to make it easy for our customers to make a purchase or if on line, to place the order. Every item needs to be clearly priced. If you are at an art festival or flea market, every item must be clearly priced. If I pick up an item with no price, I usually put it down and don’t ask how much it is. That vendor just lost a potential sale. We must make it easy to pay for the items we are selling, i.e. we will make far more sales if we accept credit/debit cards and the customers need to know they have that option. Of course with on line sales this is the only way to conduct business.

Retailers understand this principle very well. If you want to purchase a car, all you have to do is say yes. They will arrange everything else for you because if it is easy, many people will do it right now. If you want to purchase a new living room suite of furniture, it is often the same process; say yes and give them a delivery time, it is yours. When the process is clear and the steps are well defined, folks will say yes far more often. In a presentation or a class, more folks will stay with you all the way through the process when they understand where you are going to end up.

There is “Wisdom in Easy” because wherever you go, there you are.

Here is my inspiration for this message:

Psalm 19:8 MSG

The life–maps of God are right, showing the way to joy. The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes.

1 Corinthians 7:35 MSG

I'm trying to be helpful and make it as easy as possible for you, not make things harder. All I want is for you to be able to develop a way of life in which you can spend plenty of time together with the Master without a lot of distractions.

Romans 6:19 MSG

I'm using this freedom language because it's easy to picture. . .