Navigating 2009: Rules For Being The Truck and Not The Squirrel
This is a guest post.
These are stressful times – the ratio of things out of our control now far exceeds the number of variables – economic, social or otherwise – that are in control and it has created previously unseen levels of stress, anxiety and uncertainty that disrupts our lives and our careers.
I wrote Road Rules: Be The Truck. Not The Squirrel. to help us all better navigate our journeys down the road of life in all weather conditions. Whether on a bright, sunny and clear day or a dark, stormy and foggy day, we are all drivers on the road of life and are all trying to safely and properly arrive at our destinations. We must share the road – the road does not belong to you alone and you are not alone on the journey. We are obligated to drive in a manner which allows others to reach their destination and commit ourselves to playing tour guide or central dispatcher (via coaching, mentoring, consulting or friendship) for those who are trying to travel the roads that you have already successfully navigated.
The skills and discipline to understand how adverse weather conditions affect your path in life is critical to both survival and success. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. You will not always have a warning sign when weather conditions change quickly and you will need to adjust your driving style accordingly. The ability to adjust your driving skills and the characteristics of your vehicle to current weather conditions is also a metaphor for how you need to live your life. We put snow tires or even chains on our vehicles to adjust to snow and ice in the harsh winters and then take them off when Spring approaches. What adjustments do you need to make to your outlooks, perspectives and actions as weather conditions or seasons in your life change?
The successful people that I know and respect are durable and flexible. They avoid “one trick ponyism” and pay careful attention to weather and road conditions and adjust accordingly. They instinctively know when it is okay to drive faster on a clear and open road and when to slow down when navigating an icy downhill path. Others seem to have been built to move at only one pace – they travel only at high speed and eventually crash and burn or move too slowly and the opportunities pass them by. Others often carry cargo which is either too far ahead of its time or which is stale, rotten or obsolete by the time it reaches its destination.
As discussed in Road Rules, being the truck and not the squirrel depends on your willingness to be decisive as part of your commitment to being an all weather driver. Trucks have drivers that are willing to make decisions fairly quickly and be accountable for the results of their decisions, good or bad. They neither make decisions too quickly nor vacillate until it is truly too late. They are trained to understand the consequences of their actions (or inactions). Colin Powell said “if you have less than 40% of the information you need to make a decision, then it is probably too soon. If you have more than 70%, it is probably too late.” General George S. Patton said “a good plan passionately executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow.” These were both generals who understood the difference between losing a battle and winning the war.
Being a truck demands that your decision-making systems (who makes decisions, how they are made, when they are made and what adjustments are made in response to road blocks) must allow for (and tolerate) lost battles as long as the focus long-term is on winning the war.
In our travels down the road of life, we will encounter winter driving conditions (some of us more than others). There is no safe speed when driving on snow and ice. Every stretch of highway will appear differently depending on the time of day, the temperature, the severity and intensity of the snow, the angle of the sun, the degree of salting and road treatment, etc. – but you can be assured that it will be dangerous. You will need to adjust your driving style and provide more space between you and the other drivers. You will need to start slowing down sooner before you come to an intersection or make a turn. You will need to keep special supplies on hand in the event that you get stuck or the weather intensifies. You must take the time to really get a feel for the roadway and test your brakes from time to time to find out how well you can stop. Your critical fluids – anti-freeze, gasoline, oil and windshield fluid should all be filled to capacity.
This also a time when our metaphysical connections and bonds to our work and our careers often takes a nose dive. We feel underappreciated, overworked, underpaid, understimulated and over-taxed. Our expectations about pay, bonuses, benefits and job security are not directly aligned with the level of effort and commitment that is expected of us – and that’s just to keep our jobs, let alone advance up the corporate ladder. We crave enlightenment and spiritual insight in a post-9/11 and post-Enron world, yet we are quick to discard these cravings when we are worried about making mortgage payments on a timely basis. I would submit to you that troubled times are when we must embrace our core values and quest for authenticity and wisdom, not abandon it.
When you are facing less (or no) vacation time, this is not the circumstance to start hating your work even more, it is a time to embrace the teachings of the Zen Master who loves his vocation so much that he is no longer able to distinguish between his work and his play. Don’t get me wrong, if you are not getting this level of fulfillment from your current job, then it is a good time to consider change, but taking yourself completely off the highway of life is not on option. Recalibrate any lofty financial goals in exchange for meaningful work that you can embrace each day with passion and I promise you that the financial rewards will soon follow.
Let’s take a look at a summary of a few key points and observations from some of my favorite road rules:
1. Be The Truck. Not The Squirrel. On the ecosystem of the highway of life, strive to be closer to the truck than the squirrel. The truck drives confidently down the road of life as a carrier of valuable cargo for the benefit of others. Its mission is purposeful and directed – it is trying to get to a particular destination, deliver its goods and return to the road for its next task. The truck remains focused on its goals – you’ll never see a truck out for a casual Sunday afternoon drive. The squirrel spends its days scampering around with no apparent mission or purpose, randomly searching for its next acorn and all too often, winds up crushed by the truck as roadkill. The truck did not intend to kill the squirrel but was unable to save those creatures that get in the way of its path who are unable or unwilling to help themselves. Like the deer in the headlights who just freezes before its peril, we must be dedicated to a life of purposeful decision-making, especially in these difficult economic times. Whether a move to the left or the right was ultimately the right decision is less relevant than your willingness to move fast enough to avoid a fatal collision.
2. Share the Road. The road of life does not belong to you alone on this journey. These are the two critical messages of the book’s second road rule. First, share the road. How many times have we seen other drivers, either on the road of life or on our actual highways cut off others as if their ability to reach their intended destination was more important than the rest of us. It is as if none of the rest of really mattered. We cannot live our lives in this selfish vacuum, especially in a post 9-11 and post-Enron society. We prosper by helping others to prosper. We embrace the notion that everyone’s attempt to reach their goals in life are equally important. One of us can never be more important than all of us. Second, we are not alone on this journey. We all have an obligation to play tour guide to those who are trying to travel the roads that we have already mastered. Be a coach, a mentor, a friend to those who are trying to get to where you have already been. Our interconnected society driven by the internet, PDA’s and social networks allow us to help each other in ways never imaginable and it will only get better and stronger as technology requires. I am old enough to remember the excitement of connecting with another driver on a CB radio, who could warn me of the detours and challenges that may lie ahead. We are now empowered to support each other in that same way, but where a few key strokes on to a device that sits in the palm of our hand can influence and improve the journey of thousands of other drivers on the road of life in a matter of milliseconds. Wow – I look so forward to the road ahead.
3. Be An All Weather Driver. In this road rule, I was guided by a parable which reminds us all that if we only walk our paths on bright sunny days and on trails which are smooth and flat and on days where we feel healthy and invigorated and when we are wearing all the right gear and have all the right supplies, then we’ll never reach our destination. To act only when conditions are perfect is essentially to not act at all. There will never be a time or a place when all of your driving conditions on the road of life will be ideal. You must commit to being an all-weather driver and an all-weather friend. We all can remember the phrase which goes back to our school-aged years about Billy or Susie being a “fair-weathered” friend. These were the people who were your best friend whenever things were going great, but were nowhere to be found when the proverbial sh*!?+ hit the fan. Well, I can promise you that Billy and Susie are probably still living their lives in that fickle and unreliable manner and it is not serving them well on their journey. The truck must proceed in its journey and adapt its driving style accordingly in the worst of ice, snow, fog, hail, rain or the wheels of commerce come to a halt. The truck accepts that fact that not all roads or driving conditions will be perfect, but agrees to enter the highway of life each day either way.
4. Accidents Can Happen To Even The Best Drivers. This road rule is based in part on one of my favorite and most practical books, When Bad Things Happen To Good People, by Rabbi Harold Kushner. In his book, Kushner reminds us that we can commit to live our lives in a good and decent way and still stumble from time to time. There are circumstances we can control and many that we cannot, but that does not excuse or justify an abandonment of the rules or disavow a commitment to live a life of purpose and meaning just because something bad could still happen. When a 55 year old marathon runner has a heart attack unexpectedly, it is not likely that they lay on the hospital operating table, wishing that they had been an overweight couch potato. We must commit our lives to being good and considerate drivers on the road of life (and on the actual highways) free from distraction, discourtesy and drugs or alcohol which influence our abilities and accept the fact that we may still have accidents notwithstanding our good habits. The fear of an accident cannot be an excuse for not entering the highway or we’ll never reach our destination. Everything in life has its risks and the most successful people and companies that I have ever met learn how to manage and mitigate these risks by accepting the fact that risk or stress-avoidance is a misnomer and a fantasy. Anything you can do to mitigate the impact of the accident and ensure that it is not fatal to you or others on the road will serve you well in life.
For more insights on being an enlightened driver on the road of life, take a look at www.bethetruck.com. I would also strongly encourage you to share with me your own driving war stories, parables and metaphors, advice particularly those that have influenced your driving style or your intended destination.
Written by Andrew J. Sherman
ANDREW J. SHERMAN is a Partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Jones Day, with over 2,300 attorneys worldwide. Mr. Sherman is a recognized international authority on the legal and strategic issues affecting small and growing companies. Mr. Sherman is an Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program at the University of Maryland and Georgetown University where he has taught courses on business growth, capital formation and entrepreneurship for over twenty (20) years.
Mr. Sherman is the author of seventeen (17) books on the legal and strategic aspects of business growth and capital formation. His most recently published books include the recent three-part Kaplan business growth series, Grow Fast Grow Right (November 2006), as well as Build Fast Build Right and Start Fast Start Right, published by Kaplan in the Spring of 2007. His eighteenth (18th) book, Road Rules Be the Truck. Not the Squirrel. is an inspirational book which was published in the Fall of 2008. Mr. Sherman can be reached at 202-879-3686 or e-mail ajsherman (at) jonesday.com.