Get the Cowronavirus Out of the Ditch!
There’s a common saying in business: “First, get the cow out of the ditch.” It means, essentially, that the first step in resolving any crisis or problem is to focus on saving the product, business, country, or, oh . . . say . . . world.
After that, the post-mortem (aka “lessons learned”) happens. During this phase, a complete and total retrospective analysis of how the cow got into the ditch in the first place is not only appropriate but critically necessary to ensure the cow doesn’t end up back in the same or any other ditch in the future.
Sometimes, getting the cow out of the ditch requires more time, planning, creativity, resources, and/or effort than seems reasonable. It often takes a village. Further, it may not only take plan A, but plans B, C, D, E, and F. Getting cows out of ditches is hard work. And exhausting.
While getting said cow out of a random ditch, it is very appropriate to lean on the wisdom of others who have successfully removed cows from ditches, and it’s also wholly appropriate for the lead farmer to rely heavily on the wisdom of the expert cow-unditcher/s. To not do so is, well, foolish, and potentially dangerous to the cow, not to mention a waste of time and resources, but I digress.
Ideally, the cow is quickly removed from the ditch, inspected for damage, treated and bandaged, cleaned up and returned to a safe area. That is step one. Period.
Next, the team meets in an open but systematic forum to review the cause of the ditching in the first place. Sometimes, post-mortems create defensiveness since humans naturally tend to ‘blame’ even when that is not the intent (since everyone is working toward the same goal: prevention of future incidents).
A collaborative and healthy cross-functional team can successfully review the sequence of events that led to the cow-ditching to discern where things could have been tightened up to prevent the unfortunate event.
Mind you, it is *never* one thing that leads cows to fall unwittingly into ditches. It is nearly always a long chain of events that could have prevented those falls. Perhaps a wayward tractor had created the break in the fence (which was scheduled to be repaired next month when funds were available), creating the accidental escape route. Maybe the nearby slope had also eroded over time allowing the bovine grazer to misstep and tumble (that area should have been re-graded years ago). And maybe if the hay bale had been fresher that day (there’d been a temporary supply chain breakdown), Mr. Moo would never have otherwise wandered so far seeking tall grass as a replacement!
Just as there are typically multiple root causes, there are nearly always multiple solutions required to prevent future cowtastrophes. Again, thoughtful and collective analysis followed by many forms of action by many individuals will be required, but all of that happens AFTER the cow is safe.
You get where I’m going, right? I’m not saying the farmer in charge (President Trump) has a handle on the best way to remove the proverbial cow from the ever-deepening quicksand-filled ditch (i.e., containing coronavirus which is currently spreading like wildfire, and preventing even more catastrophic damage to our nation’s health and economic statuses).
What I am saying is that until the cow is out of the ditch, sniping, hateful comments and accusations about the cow-removal process or how the cow got in the ditch or why it’s taking so long to get it out of the ditch are not only unhelpful, they are dangerous, particularly given what we know about the farmer-in-charge.
The collective social fabric in the U.S. is stretched thinner than it’s ever been. If we can support each other through this mess, quit the angry partisan social media battles that will never change each other’s minds, and lead the charge to do the right things (e.g., wash our hands, wear masks, self-quarantine if sick, etc.), I think we can all be part of the cow removal process.
So, please. I understand everyone is frustrated and scared. But for the love of all that is good and holy, can we first get the cow out of the ditch and then conduct a collaborative post-mortem as a united team? How would that be? Maybe we could even talk about it in person!
Oh, also, stay the f%$& home if you’re able, and flatten the curve.
