Tyranny of the Existing

How existing system and habits can restrict our growth.

Photo by NITISH GOSWAMI on Unsplash

A Close Shave

Every Wednesday morning, it was the same thing. All junior enlisted Marines were required to arrive 30 minutes early to stand for inspection.

You couldn’t pass without a fresh haircut, pressed uniforms, and shined boots. While failure meant extra duty, passing meant standing it again the following Wednesday. Unless you received an outstanding.

To get outstanding, you had to have boots that were shiny enough the inspector could see his reflection and a flawless shave.

An outstanding rating meant you didn’t have to stand an inspection the following week.

I always got outstanding.

The Streak

Our boots were for working. Keeping a perfect shine was almost impossible.

I’m always looking for a better way, and early on learned that if you warmed the shoe wax, it would flow into the leather grain and create a smooth base surface.

My boots had at least 13 layers of wax at all times, so touching them up every week took me only a few minutes.

I have a pair that are over 30 years old in my closet that I could still spit shine in three minutes right now, and you’d be able to see yourself in them.

You couldn’t game the shave, however. It meant a blade shave as close to inspection time as possible.

A Thirty-Five-Year Streak

In July of 1987, Corporal Marlow became Sergeant Marlow and no longer had to stand inspection.

Which meant I could start using an electric razor.

Electric razors are convenient though they don’t provide a close enough shave to meet Marine Corps inspection standards.

To avoid irritation, it is recommended to use a pre-shave lotion with electric razors.

That’s where this story begins.

I’ve used the same lotion for most of the past 35 years. While others are on the market, I had no reason to switch. It had worked well for me and was relatively inexpensive and readily available.

For some reason, the product I’ve used all these years is no longer available. You can buy some of the remaining bottles from eBay for as much as 10 times the price.

Forced to Try Something New

Instead of paying more for the dwindling supply, I decided to try something new, and guess what?

It’s better! Not a little better. My shave is flawless. It’s as close as shaving with a blade razor.

The new lotion is a little more expensive and worth it. Even if the company starts making my original lotion again, I’ll never go back.

We can easily get caught in the Tyranny Of Existing practices, habits, products, or behaviors.

We see it in business all the time. Why did Blockbuster not respond to Netflix? Because they already had a system in place and all those stores. They were trapped by what already existed.

We get that way in our own lives as well.

It is good to ask occasionally…

📌 If we weren’t already doing it this way, would this be the way we would do it?

I was forced to ask that with my shaving lotion.

By not doing it proactively, I missed out on learning about the new and better lotion years ago.

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🌀Reflection

What existing practices, habits, products, or behaviors do you have in your life that you haven’t questioned in a long time?

Apply to it every aspect of your life—work, health, diet, and so on.

Ask yourself…If I wasn’t already doing it this way, would this be how I would do it?