Digging Deeper : Addressing Change in Challenging Times

Digging Deeper

Addressing Change in Challenging Times

As it is, we are surrounded with reasons and rationale that form and support a wall of constraints. It is a bittersweet talent that we IS’ers have in that we are able to assess situations so very rationally that we are just as aware of the possibilities and likelihood of success as we are of reasons and examples that would lead to failure. All of us are both aware and impacted by the undeniable reality of our economy.

Teams are working with fewer resources, tighter budgets and higher expectations from our business partners. Our reality could certainly and justifiably be perceived from a glass half full perspective. We know the darkest hour comes before the dawn, but when exactly should we expect to see dawn? We are in a unique circumstance in that we have arrived at the point where the impact of perception and action to mold an improved reality is enhanced by the ambiguity of the economy. In the past few months I have been impressed with teams that have accepted the aforementioned challenges and restraints yet managed to redefine their circumstance, work and thus reality by achieving and adding successes in what many would consider to be implausible odds (E.g. A Help Desk project or an Inventory based project I recently worked on). Crises tend to be a great way of creating and highlighting leaders. These leaders are aware of how ideas and efforts in the past have been unsuccessful, but that doesn’t stop them from digging deeper.


I cite the true story of R.U. Darby as documented by Napoleon Hill in the book “Think and Grow Rich”. During the California Gold Rush, Darby borrowed a great deal of money to procure mining equipment. He was determined and convinced he would find wealth in the mountains of California. After weeks of labor their efforts were rewarded when they found ore. The team was well on its way towards making the mining effort a profitable venture when suddenly the ore dried up. The team made a few efforts to dig deeper but found nothing. After several fruitless weeks Darby decided to leave the operation behind and sell off the mining equipment to a ‘junk’ man at a fraction of the value. The ‘junk’ man did not follow Darby’s pattern of effort. Instead of drilling he hired a mining specialist to make an assessment of the mine. The specialist identified factors (fault lines) that Darby’s team had overlooked. As it turned out, Darby’s team had missed the mother lode of ore (worth millions) by just 3 feet. Real successes are sure to be accompanied with temporary setbacks, defeat and even failure. When one feels and experiences these setbacks the easiest and most logical reaction is to quit or retreat.


The California gold rush was some time ago but the lessons are just as applicable today. Think of the more recent California rush that took place in Silicon Valley during the tech bubble. The companies that were willing to dig 3 extra feet to establish and deliver true value survived the crash. In retrospect both of the California gold rushes were based on the perception of wealth and success with little effort. Far more money was made in the supplying of equipment to the miners and tech companies than was actually made by those who purchased the equipment.

Teams (much like yours) have made a great deal of progress in the past year despite constraints and setbacks, but I do not feel that this year will be any less challenging. There is a good chance that during this year your area will receive a direct challenge to improve its performance, quality, standards or cycle time with no additional resources. It seems that it would be in your team’s best interest to be aggressively proactive by actively setting and pursuing challenging goals without request or notification. Accept that there will be setbacks along the way that will require your team to get uncomfortable and dig deeper which is exactly why you should do it. If you find yourself using the logic (excuse) that your team is currently too busy to make improvements, rest assured that you have identified a process / area that is ripe for change.