Many companies try new ideas such as Lean, Just In Time, Empowered Teams, Innovation and Change Management only to give up after a few months of poor results. In the last few days alone, I’ve seen two examples showing that persistence can win the day.
The Payoff on Tillamook Bay, Oct. 2012
First, it is fall in my home state and this is the time that salmon enter the bays heading for their home streams to spawn. Every year, I try my luck on Tillamook Bay chasing Chinook salmon and Dungeness crab. Recently I went out with three friends starting at 6:30 in the morning. We tried everywhere – in the bay, in the jaws of the entrance to the bay, in the ocean – but found no fish. We did see a whale nearby which was exciting. The guide suggested we keep fishing past the normal 3 pm quitting time to see if we would have any luck on the low tide. We kept trying, and in the last hour we caught four salmon and 16 crabs! A day that started slowly ended up being extremely successful.
Recently I saw the Saint Louis Cardinals baseball team fall behind 6 – 0 in a playoff game where the winner would continue to the next round. They slowly got to within 6 – 5, then the other team scored the “insurance run” and made it 7 – 5. In the top of the ninth, the Cardinals scored four runs to make it 9 – 7 and got the other team out to win the game!
Persistence pays. When your strategy is sound and the goal is worth shooting for, keep going until the end. You never know when you might just save the day with great reward.
© Rick Pay – All Rights Reserved
