We’ve all heard the cliché, "Work smarter not harder."  In an article he wrote for ACM’s Communications magazine, Phil Armour wonders, “If we were smart enough to do that, wouldn’t we already be doing it?” Sometimes we simply don’t know how to work smarter.  But sometimes we don’t work smarter because we choose ... or are not allowed to do things right the first time. 

Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”  Sharpening our axe requires several things: