When Life Imitates Work

Every once in awhile events in life become a metaphor for work. This Monday I was supposed to head to New England to take The Trip, a three day kayaking event with friends and family. Unfortunately a cough that I developed a week ago has showed no sign of abating. If it's anything like what friends and neighbors have described, then I will probably be living with it for at least another week.

Until this morning I kept thinking of every possible scenario that might still make the trip feasible. Maybe the cough will end tomorrow. Exercise will help me recover. Since I upgraded my kayaking gear, I should be pretty warm even if I'm soaking wet. And then, of course there were the pouting thoughts. I don't want to give up my trip. Why did the cough have to come now? I bought all this new gear and now I can't use it. All silliness of course; one does not exercise for three days in wet cold conditions when getting over a cough.

While cancelling the trip was a possibility that I had dreaded, once I did it everything else fell into place. The flight cancellation freed up funds to help cover trips to San Francisco and San Diego later this year. The new gear I bought will also enable me to do winter-time kayaking and paddle boarding here in Oregon. I'll also have time next week to focus on client projects that have gained a lot of steam and require more attention.

The thoughts I experienced with respect to the trip were similar to ones that sometimes come up when a work project looks like it's going off the rails. With the finish line in view, I was tempted to ignore the fact that a new set of risks had materialized and that I had to recalibrate rather than staying the course with brute force and wishful thinking. Initially I fixated on avoiding sunk costs but in retrospect it became clear that all of the investment-to-date could be reallocated toward other productive activities that would generate wins of their own. Communication turned out to be the most critical factor. When I updated my wife, my friend, and my brother who is going on the trip, each provided additional perspectives that I had not considered and that helped me to make the right decision.

So my key lessons from this experience that directly apply to projects-at-risk:

1. The first reaction is likely to be a visceral one, so pause and give the situation more thought.
2. Examine the bigger picture including things that initially seem fixed like costs, goals, timelines, and results.
3. Make an honest evaluation of newly emerging risks and consequences.
4. Be open to previously unseen opportunities and exploit them.
5. Communicate, don't isolate.
6. Leverage the mindshare of others--the team is usually smarter than the individual.