The Underbelly of Efficiency: The Cost of Automation Over Time

Automation promises ease. Faster workflows. Less friction. More efficiency. But I am beginning to wonder what repeated convenience costs over time. What I love about In-N-Out (for my West Coast burger lovers) is that it’s never changed; it’s always stayed the same. While it expands its offering to a secret menu, it consists of the same things– you won’t see them introducing a new burger, or straying too far away from their ingredient list. Yet and still, cars are packed in parking lots with lines circling the block, waiting for animal-style fries and an extra side of peppers.

This means that not all friction is bad. Old things don’t need to become new or evolve just because time passes. Consistency has its own value system, and there is something special in repetition– it creates mastery.

This is the tension. The only constant is change. Evolution has led us to remarkable things. So in a system of change, we have to understand the cost.

Picture a unique person, let’s take me for example, who has to do things in repetition to commit them to memory – that is how my dyslexia works. What happens when repetition disappears?

If repetition shapes comprehension, then we have to be careful about the tax we pay for taking ourselves out of the work. Because underneath some of that work are the thoughts you’ll later call upon in that interview, adaptation of that book, or development of that strategy.

Maybe the goal isn’t to automate every repetitive task, but to discern which tasks waste time and which ones shape us. Both exist. Hidden underneath our routines are the instincts, memory, confidence, and understanding we later rely on. Those things together shape the quality of what we build.