When do you declare a disaster?

I’m not worried about anything extreme and sudden. We are good at those. I’m talking about the frog in slowly heating water type of problem. You’ve heard the story about how to boil a frog. I’m not sure why this would ever be tested, but it rings true. If you put a frog in boiling water, the frog will jump out. If you place it in warm water, it will stay put, and you can slowly heat the water to boiling. I hope this isn’t actually true, but the metaphor gets the point across.

When should the frog have declared an emergency and jumped out?

In history class as a teen, the teacher asked, “When we would fight for our rights?” None of us knew exactly what our rights were and if they were being threatened or not. We were a frog in warm water.

A missionary friend of mine was shot at while living in Ethiopia. She turned and covered her daughter, and she has buckshot in her back to this day, some 50 years later. She told me the list of what to take a bullet for is very, very short, and everything else doesn’t really matter. I think she knows when to pull the alarm.

If you are driving, you should know a solid warning light on your dash isn’t as important as a blinking warning light. You should pull over and call for help if the light is blinking.

My point is we have better systems in some places than others. Think of smoke alarms, motion sensors, or doorbells. We have triggers and alarms built-in for some occasions. What if we have missed a place? Like the intersection that only gets a stop sign after someone has died. Or the reinforced cockpit door on Sept 12th.

In our own lives, our day-to-day living, where do we need an extra stop sign or a reinforced cockpit door? It starts with awareness. Awareness begins from failure. Set goals, let it be known what you intend to do. Don’t do this for bragging rights or record keeping. Write down your intentions so you see where you struggle. I promise you it will be where the water is warm, and you don’t jump in time. You could have done more if you would have started earlier. Problems are always smaller in the beginning. Course corrections are easy when they are frequent and slight, but you can get lost if you wait too long.

If you have noticed, now what? Sound the alarm, break the glass? Well, maybe. The correction should fit the crime. A common stall is from overwhelming goals or agendas or to-dos. Have a remedy ready before needed. Don’t wait and figure out what to do. It will happen, so be prepared.

1. Commit to working on something of relative importance for a minimum amount of time before worrying about alternatives. Have a when-in-doubt list of projects. What’s a minimum amount of time? It varies, but I’d say about 15 min. Bring it down to 5 if you need. The trick is to have it achievable. Something you can always do when feeling overwhelmed. What’s relatively important? I’m sure you have one or two projects that are burning for progress. The key is to decide and act; don’t freeze, so forgive yourself if you pick #3 or #5 instead of #1. You did the time, progress will be made (no matter how small), and you’ll have a new perspective in a few minutes.

2. Keep lots of notes. You will forget your place, and it takes too long to refresh each time. Reduce the switching cost by taking lots of notes. Scan your notes before beginning.

3. Have a list. And then put the list away. Choose 1 thing from the list and get to work. Don’t stare at the list.

All of this is for when you get stuck, feel overwhelmed, and can’t be where you need to be, mentally. If you are at work, be at work. If you are home, be at home. Don’t live in-between in the land of half-ass commitment. That’s the warm water for the frog.

Best of luck. Let me know what works for you. Greg