Built To Last

Have you heard about the Choluteca Bridge in Honduras (South America), I hadn’t heard of it, till one of my close friends shared the story today morning . 

Read the story and you will understand why it is so relevant today. This bridge was originally constructed in 1930 and was rebuilt in 1996. This region is known for extreme weather conditions therefore the government knew this bridge would have to be strong enough to withstand the wrath of mother nature. 

The best architectural minds in the world were hired to build a bridge that could withstand any hurricane. 

What was finally built was a state-of-the-art architectural achievement at the time. This bridge provided the much needed access for people to cross over to the other side for work and commerce. Sure enough, it seemed that the bridge had solved the long standing problem caused by hurricanes in the region. 

In 1998, the region was hit by Hurricane Mitch, a category 5 storm that devastated the Caribbean. 

The city was destroyed, roads wiped out, the buildings were also considerably damaged. Every bridge was destroyed, however the Choluteca Bridge stood its ground and survived in near perfect condition. The roads leading to the bridge and from it were completely wiped away by the storm, but not the Choluteca Bridge. It just stood there like a giant that was BUILT TO LAST. 

It was the greatest architectural achievement for the city of Honduras. At least it should have been.

Even though the bridge stood it’s ground, there was one problem, because of this storm, the river that was flowing under the bridge, carved a completely new path and now flows besides the bridge. That’s right, the Choluteca Bridge no longer stood over the river, rendering it completely useless.

Isn’t it remarkable how quickly things can change around us. Even knowing that a hurricane would eventually hit this region, the designers (market experts) of the bridge were still unable to anticipate future conditions under which the bridge would operate, regardless of how technologically advanced the bridge was at the time. 

Experts are not experts of everything: This situation demonstrates how even the simplest of assumptions about the state of the world (location of the river) may prove to be incorrect. That is exactly what is happening during this Pandemic, most businesses and models of commerce stand strong like the Choluteca Bridge, as the river (world) changes its course. 

Business models are failing, not because the people working it are bad or unskilled, but because they are still trying to use the Choluteca Bridge to get across the river, while the conditions around them have changed. 

The mantra of Built To Last holds low or no value when everything around you has changed. Our new mantra should be BUILT TO ADAPT. In a world that's changing so rapidly, we can hardly predict the future, hence we need this now more than ever. This is how entrepreneurs today and in the future will survive / thrive. 

When I started my business coaching practice (Crown Consultants & The Gyani Says), the premise was to help individuals, entrepreneurs and corporations adopt change for a new, resilient work culture, that prepares them for a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world. 

One that develops them to be conscientious, adaptable and built an appreciation of the changing market/environment which we operate in. 

Accept change while you build to adopt and you will build a bridge to somewhere. Stay rigid with your build to last model and you will have a bridge to nowhere.