Why are the basics so important?

Do you ever get those moments where you can’t find a way through a tricky problem, or don’t quite know where to start with a big piece of work? If you do, you’re not alone, but it can be incredibly frustrating when you want to find the most effortless way of completing a task.

Many professions require the ability to analyse a whole myriad of information and find quick or immediate solutions. In looking for an answer to an unfamiliar scenario, we may start looking for quick solutions and that all elusive needle in a haystack, but by doing so, that may cause us a lot of unnecessary stress and strain.

So, is there a way of avoiding all of that unnecessary aggravation in problem solving?

The initial platform

Looking back to ancient Greek and Roman times, you might wonder how so many amazing buildings were built without the technology that we possess today? Ancient buildings that have lasted centuries are built and based on simple, but brilliant mathematical ideas. In turn, those formulae became the basic principles that allowed the ancient Greeks and Romans to go on to build so many amazing buildings.

In any profession, learning the basics provides us with the initial platform to learn and develop further. Moreover, to learn the basics well, we need to approach them with patience and discipline so that our ‘initial platform’ and understanding of them is sturdy enough to build further learning and development upon. We also need to re-visit the basics regularly to make sure that the more difficult tasks that we do are still based on a strong and solid footing. The minute we start to ignore the basics, we risk our work becoming over-engineered and potentially flawed, which can lead to frustration with our work and lack of motivation to learn and develop further.

The risks of forgetting the basics

The workplace is full of competing demands and it can become easy to lose sight of the basics in our quest to meet constant deadlines. As more and more of our work is assisted by technology and software programmes, there is a huge danger that we begin to take the fundamental basics for granted as answers that we assume are correct are given to us by typing a few key-words into a computer. Whilst this may make the workplace seemingly more efficient, in fact, it may be making us lazy, complacent and incapable of thinking and challenging things and finding relevant and worthwhile solutions. It’s almost like doing an exam at school and getting 100% because someone has given you all of the answers first. Yet you learn nothing, because you haven’t gone through the basic process of stopping, thinking back to basics and basing your answers on solid principles.

The beauty of the basics is that when followed, they work with perfect simplicity. Look at a dish made of a few simple, fresh ingredients cooked lovingly, compared to a dish where lots of ingredients are just haphazardly thrown together in a pot. You can always rely on the former to taste good because the basic principles of cookery are used. Similarly, a Roman palazzo built with one or two less pillars than basic construction principles require, may become unsteady. Remove three or more pillars and that may have dire consequences.

Mastering the basics can take longer than you think

The problem with the basics is that once we have tried them a few times with any level of success, we think we have them mastered. However, when we start adding layers of complexity to things in order to find a solution, it can be easy to forget the basics or we just take them for granted. If we add technology to the frame, how many of the basics that were learnt at school 20 years ago are now never taught or just taken for granted, because computers have assumed the role of providing us with the basics?

As technology advances, there is a real danger that we lose sight of teaching, learning and practicing the basic skills and principles that underpin successful, cohesive workplaces and societies. Yes, working at the basics can seem slow, mundane and boring when you have the option of asking a computer for its version of the answer in seconds. However, it is only by learning and mastering the basics and continually working at them that the doors open to further worthwhile learning, development and success.

What will you build your foundations on?

Teaching, practicing and remembering the basics isn’t easy. It takes the discipline and awareness of a karate master to keep them at the forefront of what we do. However, by sticking to basic principles, you are more likely to provide answers and solutions built on firm foundations rather than ones built on quicksand.