When I was ten I faced the possibility of skipping a grade: I was half a year ahead in math compared even to other advanced students, and I had substituted most of the fourth grade with installing apple computers for my elementary school. A challenge would be welcome.

Then one day it was decided moving to a new grade would not be a good choice for my social development, so instead, I remained in the same class level and within a year was barely passing some classes: I lacked the vocabulary to explain to my math teacher why an F on homework and an A on tests does not average to a C. Because of that, I quickly lost interest in the game of school. I was now on a path to never pass a single AP class.

But then one day I discovered I could take local community college classes and receive high school credit. Now I was able to explore a different level of education entirely, receive bonus grades (a B would count as an A) and actually get college credit at the same time. Because of this, I found myself starting university with a year of college already completed, without those damn AP tests.

There is this distinction between efficiency and effectiveness which quietly dominates our culture everyday. Efficiency is the pattern of industrialization, of Detroit, of matter; effectiveness is the pattern of knowledge, of Silicon Valley, of bits.

Our education system taught us efficiency. Everything from the layout of seats by name, to the scheduling of classes, to the grade level model and pattern of cohorts, is modeled on the efficiency of the Industrial Age. And to the extent the educational system develops our children, it develops the scripts and assumptions foundational to our culture.

If you're reading this you probably already know it well.

What is more difficult is imagining how these foundations change to support the new culture.

What does a school look like in 40 years when the effectiveness model is dominant?

As I wrestle with this question I realize my own patterns are still 90% focused on efficiency over effectiveness.

Here are some recent patterns where I've recently noticed the hidden choice:

Effective morning rituals

My ideal morning ritual is about three hours without email and firefighting. I exercise, I meditate, I cook an omelette, I read a bit, and I write out my goals for the day.

Every time I succeed to complete this pattern I find the day is more productive overall.

Yet most days I wake up, grab my phone, and start hammering through email. Peak cortisol before feet on the ground.

The dopamine rush of efficiency is too ingrained to ignore.

Choosing a workspace

Should I go to cafe around the corner or walk 20 minutes to a cafe I enjoy more? Or just stay home and get started? I nearly always choose something nearby, but I came up with this post while taking the short walk to a better cafe. The optimal choice is clear but its not my usual choice.

Effectiveness in freelancing

Any contract or project that pays you per hour (rather than value based pricing) is modeled on efficiency rather than effectiveness. I’ve tried both recently and I prefer value based pricing, but when buyers live in a frame of efficiency this can be a difficult chasm to cross.

Fixing a flat tire

The other day I blew out a tire on Highway 1, and lost an hour to my feeble attempt to change it, before accepting that I'm not a mechanic and besides a tire shop was within one mile. Had I succeeded to change the tire, I would have won the efficiency game by minimizing my expenses over time, but fortunately my failure highlighted how ineffective this was.

Effectiveness in driving

There is nothing more efficient than using Google Maps to find your fastest way home, but in the last few weeks I've taken to turning it off and navigating the streets a bit more dynamically. Not sure this is effective but it certainly removes efficiency as an option, and my stress level seems lower when I cannot make a wrong turn.

Effectiveness of unlimited services

Remember when you had to count your minutes on your cell phone? This was the model of an efficiency trap: an easy but trivial win. Now you can get unlimited everything for $50-90 per month. How many people overpay because they no longer have to run mental accounting? I know I do, happily.

Effectiveness in learning to code

I've begun to learn Javascript, and an interesting feature of JS is the choice between efficiency and effectiveness. Nearly everyone who knows I'm learning JS wants to share something that will make it more efficient: a better text editor, a framework, or even an alternative language. What many of these have in common is their bias to efficiency: a better text editor will save me some time in writing code, and frameworks have incredible potential to be more efficient.

But I want to learn the foundations. I want to be able to write naked javascript, to understand how the frameworks work rather than just use them.

I'm betting this knowledge will make my skills more effective at the cost of efficiency.

Effective physical training

The other day I had to choose between a normal Crossfit class or one focused on skills, with less intensity. I fought with myself to get into skills: I desired the feeling of accomplishment of a regular class. But once in the skills class I realized how much more effective it would be to focus on fundamentals each day rather than intensity. My training partner disagreed: he was in this skills class, but rather than get his fundamentals right, he kept adding weight.

What’s the point?

Efficient essays get to a conclusion.

This is not an efficient essay.