Overcoming difficult situations

I know of a few ways to overcome difficult situations – get stronger, smarter, or more lucky. The luck part we cannot specifically control, but like Thomas Jefferson said “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”.

We get better through our diverse and adverse experiences. Lets look to our ancestors and admire what they endured. It was a simple lifestyle known as “survival of the fittest”. Can you imagine if humans went back in time and re-entered the food chain as a middle link rather than an end-cap? My closest experiences to being hunted are being in the vicinity of a pack of coyotes and trying to manage the company during its evolutions. Neither are ones I’d like to relive any time soon.

As humans, we are one of the weakest species in the animal kingdom. How is it that we have come to take over the world? On paper, we should have been overrun by animals much stronger than us. Surely there are many reasons why we continue to dominate the planet. Our ability to envision multiple scenarios and communicate them to others plays a major role in our success. An “uncommon sense” element is our ability to adapt and work within a group. Seeking out to see another’s perspective increases our ability to understand one another’s intentions and motivations, helping us to coordinate and work together more effectively. What I am trying to convey is reasoning and relating skills matter! We’ve depended on these skills to overcome all odds as a species. We are depending on them to excel as a company.

A sign of maturity is the way struggles are handled. I am proud of the way we have gone through the adversity of restructuring the company. Just as Tiger Woods faced a lot of criticism for changing his swing while he was on top of his game, our leaders have faced a lot of resistance to evolving our company for the next level. Problems occur. Mistakes are made. We all have and will fall short. Do not despair. We can make a comeback. Much like people that forget about taking their health seriously, some exercise coupled with a couple of behavioral changes and people can become healthy again. The same goes for creating maturity in the way we manage. We can become smarter. We can become stronger. We just need to put the effort in. Mature companies actively manage whats important.

I look forward to the next chapter of our journey in building the company that sets the trend. Facility departments can make a brand better. It is a bold statement. We believe it.