SOUTHWEST ASIA -- My Dad used to work in a hardware store when he was in junior high. Among the things he learned while working there was a quote from the owner, "A poor man can't afford to buy cheap tools."

This quote is something Dad shared with me many times over the years, and I must admit the first few times I heard it I really didn't understand what it meant. After all, how can a poor man afford to do anything but buy cheap tools?

The answer, he explained, is that if a customer needed a hammer, and they had two choices, a cheaply-made $5 hammer and a well built $8 hammer, a poor customer might be tempted to buy the $5 hammer to save money. However, because it was cheaply made, chances are the hammer would break and the customer would have to buy another hammer, ultimately costing them more money in the end, money the customer couldn't afford.

Now, this story is not aimed at hammers and hardware, but rather a larger focus on the utilization of limited resources, whether that is in your personal life, or your professional one. It serves as more than just a proverb on how to spend one's money, but also how to spend one's time. It addresses the importance of quality, and the critical need to find a balance between it and the resources available. Bottom-line, it's a lesson in seeking high-value in the goods and services we receive and deliver.

This is not a new concept, but with a dwindling national budget, higher costs for everything, and the leanest manpower pool we've had in decades, we as Airmen cannot afford to not get it right the first time. With everything we do, we should consider the cost of doing it once, the right way; versus the cost of taking a shortcut, only to have to do it over again because the "easy-way" didn't work. We can't afford to not do the right thing, whether that be following established technical orders, being good stewards of the people's money, putting forth 100 percent effort into our jobs every day, or forging relationships with our friends and allies.

Taking the easy "cheap" way ultimately costs us more resources in the long run, resources we can't afford to squander. So the next time you're tempted to take a short-cut or the easy path to save time, money, or effort, ask yourself, "Am I buying cheap tools?"