With a bit of tongue in cheek, “This is not only my first guest post on [blog nauseam], it’s also my first guest post on any blog.” Thanks, Steve!

I get to write about one of my favorite AutoCAD features, and share a short personal story.

Yesterday I read Frank Mayfield’s article on time-sensitive Right Click, which made me recall an opportunity to help a new user on a design task the other day. I led them through an approach to mitigate a design issue, noticed they weren’t using time-sensitive Right Click, and asked them why?

User: Why not?

Me: Fair question; because it’s extra clicks.

User: It’s just a few extra clicks.

Me: Correct; every click counts.

User: Yeah, but it only takes a few seconds.

Me: Correct; how many seconds? Do the same task each way and time it.

User: <Does the task each way>… It only takes an extra 6 seconds.

Me: Good. Now extrapolate that; how many times a day do you do this?

User: Oh, all the time! Haha Hundreds of times a day.

Me: Okay, call it 100, because you won’t do that everyday.

User: 6 secs, 100 times a day, is 600 secs, that’s only 10 mins per day.

Me: Correct; extrapolate that over a year: 5 days, 50 weeks.

User: <Does the math>… Holy crap! 2500 mins? 41.7 hrs? That’s more than a week!

Me: Correct; you just cost the owner a week of otherwise billable time in extra right clicks. Get it now?

User: I get it now.

Me: I know.  <Smiles and walks away>  (<— Yes, I smile! A lot actually)

The user has since opted for the more efficient method on their own, and demonstrated this mindfulness for detail in other areas as well.

I show them the trade-offs and let them choose for themselves.

Accountability makes us better, more capable. Owning our decisions and learning from missteps earns respect. Only then do we see what a real team can do. #GetAfterIt