I sometimes think that this phrase is my default primary modus operandi. OK, not always, but there are times when I feel like hitting myself aside the head because I really should have known or understood (fill in the blank). I finally got to the ‘not to overreact’ stage because the point is that eventually I did realize. Sorry, if you felt that what I said didn’t apply to you or that it was just a bit presumptuous – not intended. Still, regardless, the point is that like me, you do see what you missed earlier and now you can adjust or change if you acted prematurely… or seemingly too late.
Realizing and then adjusting should be more of the focus then your feelings that you should have known earlier. Sometimes though, missing the timing may make adjusting more difficult, you have to flow with the new reality. So there you are standing in your new understanding, what do you do? Do you bring everyone who are directly involved and inform them of the need for change? Do you involved them in the new approach or simply announce that there is a change? Acceptance is typically based on understanding and some level of ownership so all involved really do need to be consulted on some level. It’s not so much changing horses in midstream as it is realizing that a change is needed.
And yes, all that I said is patently logical and life, people, activities/events are not always logical. Quite honestly, it is we who bring the logic to bear. If we don’t bring logic with us then either someone who did or chaos reigns. The problem is that time and resources are wasted when we fix our eyes on the ‘wrong’ thing. This isn’t the first time of a ‘too late smart’ situation so having experienced a variety of actions to the discovery should give us multiple options. Does it? Sometimes yes, sometimes not so much.
Too late smart is really a terrific teacher when we allow it to provide us with this understanding so we don’t repeat the behavior. We won’t always get it right but we can look at the behaviors we display to determine those that positively affect and effect a new paradigm. Forced to think out of the box may be the greatest benefit of… too late smart.
