Galumphing is Progress
The previous post highlighted the phrase Festina lente: make haste slowly. The notion may be symbolized by an illustration of a dolphin and an anchor, emphasizing that speed is held in check.
Although there is wisdom in committing to a steady, measured pace, today I’d like to write briefly in praise of the form in which progress is actually made: galumphing.
Galumphing is the motion a seal makes on land.
Lewis Carroll introduced the word in his poem Jabberwocky: the hero returns “galumphing” after having defeated the titular monster. “Galumph” may be a portmanteau of “gallop” and “triumph,” but the sound and feel suggest not some smooth and elegant gallop, but a rocking and clumsy motion.
Work progresses in fits and starts. Software developers do not, in my experience, sit down at a keyboard each day and code a consistent number of word per minute or lines of code for every hour of the day. Salespeople do not meet the same fraction of their sales quota every day. Startup founders do not build a product or a company in some fixed incremental quantity each week. Any notion of progress or pace that we have is a measure of some average over time.
Steady progress isn’t smooth progress. Do you worry that you had an unproductive day? Are you reading books and blogs searching for some means to improve the efficiency and consistency of your work? Do you wonder when you’ll reach some new plateau of capability? If so, then consider easing your mind a bit with the notion that you are making progress by galumphing. Picture that seal making its ungainly way to the sea. You rear up, lurch forward, and flop down, then repeat. Galumph, galumph, galumph.
