My brother runs a business cleaning business in Minneapolis. We were discussing a business process issue (unrelated to cleaning OR databases) and how one should find a solution to a problem. He told me, “I always tell my cleaners, ‘Think like a lazy person but don’t act like a lazy person.'”
In other words, find the simplest way to do that (how would a lazy person do it), but be sure to do it as well as you can (don’t act like you’re lazy).
I LOVE this advice. When trying to develop a process, whether it’s around managing data, or just keeping your office clean, you should always look for the simplest way to do the job. Too often associations (and all businesses) make things far too complicated, with ridiculous processes or archaic rules.
But if you design your processes to reflect how a lazy person would do it, you might find that it makes everyone’s life a little easier.