Life has become very internet dependent. We all know it, but when you experience it, you really feel it. A series of outages over the weekend reminded me just how much. Online banking, wifi boost for making calls and texting, tv, email, internet, etc. I kept hitting walls with everything I wanted to do.
In business there are critical items too. If they go down, they take everything with them. The trick is, figuring out what they are and putting backups in place.
As the fall comes rolling in, so do mushrooms. There are a number of fallen trees along the trail that are covered in mushrooms. For these trees, the mushrooms are decomposing the wood. These same mushrooms can be seen on trees still standing, making me wonder if they are decomposing as well. From the outside, it’s hard to tell the health of the tree, other than the presence of the mushroom.
Just like trees, businesses can begin to decay. They may look good from the outside, making it hard to tell. But there are usually signs, like the mushroom, that something isn’t going well. The trick is to understand what those signs are and act when you see them.
It’s been a crazy year. At the start, it was supposed to be a very hot year. And we did have some very hot days over 100, but many that were on the pleasant side. And rain off and on through the summer. As a result, I’m staring at a bunch of green peppers I hope will ripen by the end of the growing season. We lose 90 minutes of sun through the month of October and after the 17th the temperatures have been below 70. So, it is a matter of tweaking and repositioning to make the best of the time left.
The same happens in business. You start the year with a plan and the conditions turn out to be different than expected. The key is to have a plan on what to do when things don’t go the way you expect. At the end of the day, customers still expect results. And that plan B is what will get you there.
My neighbor has a fruit tree right on the fence line. At this time of year, it typically drops a little fruit in my yard. But this year was different. Fruit has been dropping for nearly two months. And it is usually half eaten. So, I blamed the squirrels. Until one day when one of the branches was jerking around wildly. I watched for a minute as a crow became visible, hanging upside down, pecking and jerking the fruit until it was partially eaten and fell to the ground. I had it wrong!
The thing about assumptions is, they can turn out to be wrong. Even when using the best information available. And in business, it is important to clearly state the assumptions that underlie plans. Whether it is adding new capacity, specific market conditions, adoption of a new product, etc., the assumptions need to be laid out. That way, people can focus on making the assumptions happen to get the outcomes they expected.
Over the years, spiders have created webs across the trail. And I would walk into them then flail my arms trying to get them off me. This year, I haven’t had that problem. So, I’ve wondered if someone cleared the trail ahead of me or if they just aren’t around this year. It took the light coming in at the right angle to see all the spider webs throughout the woods. And there were a lot!
In business, the same principle is true. Sometimes it takes putting a light at the right angle to show all that is going on. And you’ll either be shocked or delighted by what you see.
Fiasco averted! I was out front watering plants and listening to a podcast when all of a sudden something rubbed up against the back of my legs causing me to jump while trying not to drop the watering can. When I looked down, my neighbor’s cat was wrapping around the front of my legs, taking the space that my left foot had occupied before I jumped. So, there I was, one leg in the air, my hands holding the watering can, trying not to fall over on the cat at my feet. It wasn’t pretty, but I managed to plant both feet on the ground and not step on the cat.
There are times in business when something comes out of left field and throws everything into chaos. The trick is focusing on getting back to stable ground. Then you can deal with everything else.
The light was streaming through the trees in the morning hours in a way that it lit up things that would otherwise go unnoticed. This time it was a spiderweb suspended between two trees, maybe 15-20 feet above the ground. How did it get up so high and bridge the gap between two trees that were at least 20 feet apart to spin its web. I’m sure someone can explain how spiders do that, but it was pretty impressive to see.
There are things that occur every day that would otherwise seem impossible. It’s worth taking time to look around to be inspired by possibilities.
There’s an apple tree in the local park. And at this time of year, it attracts a lot of attention because the apples are ripening and dropping to the ground. Some people see the apples as something to gather or pick and eat. Some of the kids see a ball and toss it around or hit it with a stick. Other kids see the apples as a game like whack-a-mole, jumping on one after another and crushing them. The tree sees the apples as a means to spread its seeds. And if I just said Apple, you might think about the company.
In business, what people see depends on the lens they are looking through. As leaders, part of our job is to understand what people see.
The Olympics has been fantastic. It’s been eight years since we last saw all the pomp and circumstance, the crowds, the proud family members cheering their athlete on. And not all of it can be condensed down to the nightly primetime broadcast. So, I set specific events to record only to find that a different event was recorded in its place. Surfing through the various places that might have the video on demand only came up short. I signed up for something I didn’t get. And it was disappointing.
Unfortunately, not getting what you signed up for happens too often in business. And when it does, there should be an avenue for the customer/client to share what went wrong and provide an opportunity for the business to make it right. That gives the business a chance not only to deliver on the promise, but also to fix the process that led to the miss.
During the winter and spring, the local creek fills up with fast moving water. At points, it is so fast moving, dirt and sediment are carved out of the sides and base of the creek bed. As the water subsides, the ripples in the creek bed that the fast moving water left become visible. There’s always a change…a difference in the structure of the creek.
In business, there are times when the volume and velocity of work are so significant and fast moving, it’s hard to tell what is getting carried away. But when the rush subsides, it is important to take a look and make sure the foundation is still intact. After all, what’s left needs to support the business going forward.