Being Available or Being Capable; Which is Better?

Someone may have the capability to perform a task excellently well but what will happen if at the point he is needed, he is nowhere to be found? Most times, it is the person around that will provide you will the regular and timely help they you need instead of waiting for the relevant help that may not be forthcoming when needed. The best form of help is usually the one that you get when needed.

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You will agree with me that a delayed help may carry the same negative effect as absolute helplessness. For example, when someone is terribly hungry, anything that looks like food that you bring to him will be much welcomed and appreciated, instead of waiting for the best meal that may not come anytime soon. In the same way, at the point of need, you will realize that availability holds more advantage than capability.

Even in an organization, you need to work with the available to build them up to become capable with time. If you are only waiting for the capable, your output may be limited when the capable becomes unavailable. I remember the story a friend told me about his experienced when he joined a particular choir. When he joined, he discovered that the choir mistress always used a particular set of people for performance.

When asked the reason, she would always say that she wants perfection and that was why she always uses the best choristers and the best instrumentalists. However, she forgot that keeping the other ones dormant would make them redundant and it would make them not to learn nor improve on their skills. This thing continued and everyone else; apart from the very few selected best; became redundant.

A point came when those people that were preferable became unavoidably absent and that point, she wanted to fall back on the available but they were unwilling to be used because they were already made to believe that they were below par, or rather, they believed that they were kept as "spare tyre". If she had been using them prior to that time, they would not have had difficulty blending in when the preferable were not available.

One of the things I have understood about life is that; you should not discard the available because of the capable or because of the preferable. A time will come when you may need the available when the preferable will become unavailable at the moment. A split-second may become a life-and-death moment that only the available will provide the ultimate help.

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I remember when a close buddy was involved in an accident, the person available on the spot was not even in the medical field but it was his t-shirt that he removed to use to tie the wounded leg to stop bleeding. If they had waited until the doctor arrived instead of using the available, it would have become very critical. You see, in the time of need, the available help is always better and more worthwhile than the preferable help. This is because the available help will become the relevant help.

The experience of my buddy made me to understand that we should not take anyone for granted. It may surprise you that the person you looked than on today as irrelevant may be the one that would provide a timely help for you tomorrow.

Thanks for reading