Useless Flutes.

When was the last time you saw a wood column — real wood, not wood around a steel beam — that was a height over your head? If you live somewhere that has grand buildings constructed before 1870, you have a chance.

Of course, the ancient Greeks built thousands of buildings that required columns. They found that to strengthen the columns, instead of simply putting up a hunk of trimmed log, if they cut ‘flutes” into the sides — those long, vertical indentations that make the column look “scalloped” around the edges — the column could hold more weight.

That was nice, but the ancients’ ability to carve stone moved forward, and after a while, there was no need to cut wood (and my guess is that wood became expensive), and stone, which could bear so much more weight — became the preferred method of column supports.

Yet the basic design never changes — even to this day. We think that all the sculpted edges are for show, but once they held a real purpose.

How is this a career issue? Think. I’ll bet there’s lots that you do today that once served a purpose but now is just a habit. It’s easy to keep those old habits for our own comfort or vanity, but they really serve no purpose at all. Getting rid of them could let you build a modern, stronger pillar for your career.