I had a prof who used to say, “You’ll pay for a shortcut in the long-run.”

There’s a difference between being efficient, and cutting corners. Being efficient has to do with doing more work, better work, with less waste, in a shorter amount of time–using legitimate means. I tell my kids, “Work smarter not harder.”

A shortcut, however, has to do with dropping acceptable quality, or expected output, or your own integrity in order to avoid the necessary time and effort it takes to do the work well. Where are we tempted to ignore great advice? Or to shirk our work? Or to bend the rules when no one is looking?

“There is a way that seems right [a short cut] to a man,

but its end is the way to death.”

Proverbs 14:12