My blog was down a couple of weeks ago. It took about 3 days to get everything working again as it should. During that period there are some things I learned as well as reminded of. These are things I think are valuable in life and leadership. I felt challenged as I pondered the lessons… There is opportunity for growth in the midst of setbacks. Your setbacks will set you back even further if you simply see them as such and not opportunities for growth. Here two things to consider when things fall apart:
- Perfect: It is the perfect opportunity to effect some changes. Sometimes it is difficult to effect change in the middle of processes. When things aren’t just working there is nothing more you can lose! You can’t do any worse! Evaluate what was not working as it should and correct it before restoration. Review frameworks, perceptions and approach while everything is down in order to rebuild stronger. Put in place things that will help you even go farther and stronger. When you lose something it is great opportunity for a fresh and better start not to wallow in self pity and unhealthy self criticism. Don’t waste the ‘ruins’!
- Prevent: Before rushing to restore things to their previous working state, always ensure you have understood why they broke down. Acting out of panic or frustration will cause you to focus on restoring things only. Restoring anything to a working state will be more worthwhile after understanding why they crashed in the first place. Using downtime to understand the cause of the crash will be an investment that can save you valuable resources going ahead. Never stop at asking why things got to where they are. To effectively solve a problem you have to understand the root cause and deal with it, otherwise it will be live longer and cost you more. If you do not go to the root of the problem you may just repeat it again. You might also discover that the cause of the breakdown might have been a gradual development.
illustration: John Drake Flickr, Flickr (cc)
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Your thoughts?