There is an old expression in business and technology: “paving the cow paths.”

Before roads and sidewalks were carefully designed, people and animals created paths by repeatedly traveling the same routes. Over time, those paths became established. When communities eventually developed, rather than asking where the best roads should go, they sometimes simply paved the paths that already existed.

The roads became smoother and faster. But they weren’t necessarily better.

The phrase gained popularity in business and technology circles in the 1990’s as organizations began automating their work. Leaders were warned not to simply use new technology to make old processes faster. Before investing in technology, they should first ask a more important question: Does this process still make sense?

It is a lesson that feels especially relevant today for our personal and professional lives.

Artificial intelligence, automation, and rapidly advancing technology offer extraordinary opportunities to improve how we live and work. But they also create a risk. We can spend enormous amounts of time and energy making outdated processes more efficient.

We can automate reports nobody reads.We can make unnecessary meetings more productive. We can use artificial intelligence to complete work faster without asking whether the work needs to be done at all.

There is an important distinction between efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency asks, “How can we do this faster?” Effectiveness asks, “Should we be doing this in the first place?”

We should all pause and think about how these two questions impact our lives.

Why do we have this meeting? Why does this decision require four approvals? Why do we produce this report? Why is our organization structured this way?

Sometimes there are good answers.  But sometimes the answer is, “Because we’ve have always done it this way.”

Organizations develop cow paths over time. So do our lives.

We establish routines, habits, beliefs, and expectations. We follow career paths we chose decades ago. We fill our calendars with obligations. We define success based on ideas we formed when we were younger. We continue doing things not because they are helping us become the people we want to be, but because they have become familiar.

Then, instead of questioning the path, we try to improve it in some way.

We work harder. Become more efficient. Buy better technology. Improve our productivity. Fill every available hour.  But we never revisit the original reason we do things.

We pave the cow paths.

An important task to occasionally do, personally and professionally, is stop and ask different questions, like:

If I were starting today, knowing what I know now, would I still choose this path? Would I spend my time the same way? Would I structure my work this way? Would I define success the same way? Would I invest as much energy in the things that consume my attention? Would I be building the life I actually want?

Progress is important. But progress should not be measured only by how quickly we are moving.

Every once in a while, we need to look up from the road, examine where it is taking us, and decide whether it is still the right path.

Technology will continue advancing. Organizations will continue changing. Our lives will continue evolving.

Before you pave the path in front of you, perhaps it is worth asking whether you should be traveling it at all.

What processes in your professional life exist primarily because “we have always done it this way”?

Where are you working harder or moving faster without questioning whether the destination still matters?

If you were designing your life today, knowing what you know now, what path would you choose?

Tony Thelen is the founder of The River Coaching and Consulting, LLC, an executive coaching firm based in West Okoboji. He is the author of "Am I Doing This Right?" and "Things We Desire." He works with CEOs, business owners, executives to remove pain, anxiety, and stress while making room for true personal and professional growth. Contact Tony at [email protected] or learn more at www.therivercoach.org.