Don't reinvent the wheel, unless you want the challenge...

"Don't reinvent the wheel, just realign it." - Anthony J. D'Angelo

      During my training, many of my colleagues provided "Don't reinvent the wheel" and similar sentiments when discussing the myriad materials and sessions I had/have/will have to prepare for my position. In the past I have seen this as great advice - if a tool comes pre-made and does the job you are looking to fill, why make a new tool? Using the "wheel" already has many pros, including saving you both time and energy - resources that can be put towards the next task, for which you may have to invent a ball because a wheel won't work.

     However, as D'Angelo points out, there are cases in which a "realignment" is warranted (and I promise this is as far as I will take the metaphor). On one end of the spectrum, a training session may need to be tweaked due to the original facilitator having a much larger staff with which to work. On the other end, sheet for RAs to fill-out while on rounds may need to be almost rewritten due to the original institution having different policies and procedures (something I did yesterday). But even on that end I was able to keep the original formatting, which would have taken me another hour to recreate. In fact, I have spent most of the past few days retrofitting my old resources and realigning others' for this new position, saving minutes and hours everywhere.

    While realigning and not reinventing are both great time- and energy-savers, I could see why a professional would still want to start something from scratch: the challenge. For an example, I will turn to my programming model for the RAs I am supervising. I made it from the bare bones, which were my supervisor's programming expectations for our area on campus, and then built it into a year-long programming plan for my residence hall. Yes, I took some advice here and there, but in the end I typed the entire plan and the ideas and intentions were mine. My supervisor telling me that he believed it was a good plan felt like the biggest praise ever, all because I had taken-on the challenge and met it.

   The purpose of that example is not to put me on a pedestal (I'm afraid of heights anyway), but instead to show the importance for a young, sub-entry level professional of creating your own ideas and materials every once in awhile. Starting-off fresh has been very stressful at points, but I feel that the longer you wait to truly challenge yourself to utilize the skills you are building, the longer you wait to grow in your position. So, realign when you do not have the time, but when you do have the time, take it to at least consider the challenge of reinventing. Who knows - your wheel may roll you further.

Quote Citation: D'Angelo, Anthony J. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved from: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/anthonyjd377829.html

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