THERE are many five-second rules that we can find everywhere. In basketball, it is used against any player who takes time to do an in-bound throw of the ball. Or if an offensive player with the ball and, due to close guarding, fails to dribble, pass or shoot. That's a violation of continuous play.
In volleyball, the server has five seconds to serve the ball from the time the referee signals the start of a set. Again, it is to avoid waiting time.
Other than sports, the best I can remember about the five-second rule is when I was in elementary school. Anyone who dropped a bicho-bicho (a twisted doughnut), ensaymada (Spanish pastry) or any food with sugar toppings was mischievously encouraged to pick it up off the floor in under five seconds.
Then, you quickly dust off the sugar toppings. However, even breads like pandesal were cleaned by dusting off the excess flour that makes every piece glow with its sandy exterior.
Fast forward. Many years back, I saw a service crew of a bakery shop at the front area of a supermarket who picked up a dropped ensaymada from his side of the counter. In an instant, he picked the bread off the floor without any sign of guilt and placed it back in the serving tray.
I pretended I was not looking until I blew the whistle: "Hey, that's bad!" He was startled but recovered with an embarrassed smile. I complained to his boss right away.
The poor guy was mildly admonished. Although, I'm not sure what really happened to the ensaymada with all its disheveled margarine and sugar on top when I left the store when I vowed never to come back. But, really, is it safe to eat food off the floor if you are fast enough to pick it up in five seconds or less?
Dr. Sana R. Zuberi, a family medicine physician at Henry Ford Health, says she believes in the five-second rule. "I think it's worth it to not keep throwing food away." She says it takes more than five seconds for potentially harmful bacteria on the floor to attach to and contaminate your food."
However, Dr. Zuberi believes it depends much on different circumstances like the type of floors (a house carpet may repel dust) compared to a street pavement or public toilet.
And the type of food, like an ensaymada is sure to glue in more germs and bacteria because of its margarine magnet. There are many things to consider, but Dr. Zuberi says, "Time alone is not a guarantee."
Goal-setting
Every individual who wants to succeed needs a goal. Many times, however, we falter in defining or redefining our goals for some reason, much more to concretize them. We are often sidelined by so many ideas that we lose sight of our goals. A good example is the New Year's Resolution.
So, what's happening to yours? Any update? I'm almost sure you're not even thinking about it, as we come now to the midyear. What can you do about it? This is where the five-second rule would come in. Melanie Robbins, in her book with the same title, proclaims we can improve our goal-setting process with the five-second rule.
"If you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must physically move within five seconds, or your brain will kill it."
The key word is "physically," which means taking an active stance to make it happen one step at a time. At my age, that's very useful. That's why I rely much on my paper to-do list for the day; if not use some app on my phone. Of course, there's a better way of making it happen by immediately acting on a certain task, depending on its urgency.
Visual control
Another use for the five-second rule is as a key, visual control measure of any workplace. Anyone who comes in, outsiders even uninitiated employees, without asking questions could instantly understand in five seconds the current situation by looking at graphics or indicators, even simple notices.
A good example of the five-second rule is an international airport that we can find in Japan, Singapore and other progressive countries.
Outside of the graphics and notices, my rule of thumb as a guest is to anticipate the kind of management that I would be seeing. For me, a broken wall clock is a sign of bad governance, probably less offensive than a smelly toilet, an unkempt security guard or a host that keeps you waiting for 15 minutes at the gate.
If that happens, more often than not, the office or factory visit would turn out to be a disastrous, miserable result.
I know there are people who would simply ignore such things. But not me, especially when we're looking at best practices. Nothing beats the five-second rule if you want to understand the big, invisible difference between bad and good management by simply looking at their facade.
Rey Elbo is a business consultant on human resources and total quality management. Contact him on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or email elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.com
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