Meep, meep …!

Growing up, I liked to get up before 7 a.m. on Saturday morning to watch the Bugs Bunny Road Runner hour. Every cartoon followed the same plot with the Road Runner constantly outwitting Wile E. Coyote and his unlimited supply of tricks purchased from Acme Corporation. The cartoon had its own law of gravity – Mr. Coyote could not fall until he looked down. And, no matter what he tried or how he planned, the Road Runner would shout, “Meep, meep!” as he zipped away into the sunset.

How often do our organizations run off a cliff and just keep going? The reports that no one has read for the last five years, the processes that are 90% workarounds of the original checklist, the employee that stopped contributing to the team two years ago – all things that are easier to ignore. We continue on as if we were standing on solid ground.

How often do we keep looking outside of our organization for the answers? Or look for quick fixes like the newest technology or the latest business fad. We continue on as if buying the same solutions will create a different outcome.

Looking down and falling leads to pain. Ending the ordering of new quick tricks from Acme requires change. We prefer to avoid pain and change. But the good news is that like Wile E. Coyote, we will live to fight another day. The only question is whether we will keep doing the same thing over and over again, or do the work of drawing a new cartoon.

Orbiting the Giant Hairball