The Perfect Gown

Princess Alena was very fond of dressing up. She had lots of beautiful gowns. Some were silken. Others were linen. Most of them were trimmed with lace, beads and frills. She had colours ranging from the palest to the brightest. Each one was designed specially and tailored to her size. She had a team of efficient seamstresses to make clothes exclusively for her.

One day she casually mentioned to her head maid servant, ‘Most of my gowns get stained at the cuff of the right arm. Only some of them remain clean at that point. I wonder why?” The maid servant segregated all the gowns that had unstained right cuffs. She enquired from all the seamstresses and came to the conclusion at all these gowns were stitched by one particular seamstress. The maid sent for the seamstress. The girl came in wondering why she had been sent for. The maid said to her, “The princess says that the gowns stitched by you, don’t seem to get stained at the right cuff while she eats her food, whereas all her other gowns, get stained. What is the reason?”

The seamstresses said, “The right arm of the princess is one inch shorter than her left arm. So, I make the right sleeve shorter by an inch. It has to stay in place, it can not hang below.”

The maid raised her eyebrows in surprise. She took the seamstress to the princess. The girl measured the length of both the arms of the princess. There was indeed a difference of an inch. Only this girl seemed to have noticed this!

It’s not enough to just be right by the book, you have to be able to do things right.
To be effective is more important than to be efficient.

Efficiency is doing things right;
Effectiveness is doing the right thing!