This weekend, my granddaughter got two fish. They managed to live less than two hours. The family put them in the tank, went for lunch, and returned to find that the fish hadn’t survived. All of this trauma even though they followed all the directions.
So, why did they die?
Bad water.
Before getting replacement fish, they tested the water and found out the water at their house was chemically out of balance for fish life. They needed to drop in a few tablets to regain the water’s chemical balance, and the next set of fish should be fine.
The water wasn’t toxic. People drink and bathe in it every day. They live in a city of roughly 100,000 people. Nobody gets sick. But fish can’t survive in it, and they need a few safe gallons for fish. So, they need to do better.
My granddaughter’s family had come to believe the water would serve every purpose they needed. The fish sacrificed their lives due to that belief. (It’s not a big deal unless you are one of the fish).
The same things happen in sports. In football, it is said that it “takes all eleven.” I watched a lot of football last month as the season ends. Several times during each game, you see a play where 10 of 11 players do their job, but one person makes a mistake, ending in disaster. It only takes one person to wreck a play.
One running back missing a block on a blitzing defender leads to the quarterback getting sacked. It doesn’t matter if the lineman blocks everyone else or how many receivers are wide-open. The play is over if the quarterback doesn’t have time to throw.
One Ravens Tight End drops a pass that hits him in the hands, and the season is over. I’ll let you decide if that is a bigger deal than the death of two little fish.
If it continues, the team members will start to lose trust in the player who consistently drops the ball or misses blocks. Of course, the reverse is true; the team comes to rely on certain players for their consistent performance.
We are in the electrical business and know this from installing our systems. One bad connection means the lights don’t come on. It doesn’t matter if the panels are mounted perfectly; the conduit is straight and level, and the wire is pulled without flaw. All it takes is a loose wire nut, and the system doesn’t work. One break in the system, and the system is worthless.
Of course, it goes beyond that. If one person drops the ball and material isn’t ordered or released, we don’t have what we need to do our job. If we don’t return our tools to where they belong, people can’t do their jobs. They end up letting down others in the system who are getting our work done.
Just like the fish needed certain things from its water, a football team counts on everybody doing their thing, and a company relies on everybody holding up their end of the situation.
We all need each other. It is fun to think about, and others need me. It makes my job seem more critical. It gives what I do more meaning, but it does add pressure.
