I was driving to the office this morning and found myself caught in a small road construction project. I was turning left onto South Blvd (a 4 lane road) from the service drive of the M-59 exit ramp. The inside lane of South Blvd was closed and had the notorious orange barrels blocking it. The closed lane wasn't inhabited by any construction vehicles as the work was only being done in the median by a backhoe.
The interesting thing about the open lane was that it had three sections of the road removed and prepped for resurfacing. The prep work was about 80% complete, but there was still a 2-3 inch dip that was noticeable. They had heaped asphalt on the transitions to make for a pretty bumpy ride, but that's what they needed us to do... travel a road that was under construction. The closed lane had no vehicles working on it... and the open lane had uncomfortable travel conditions. Hmmm....
It was visually confusing unless you read the signs.
The leading vehicle at the stop light was a truck and it was four cars ahead of me. It was obviously dusty, the color orange and had a big white decal. When the light turned green, the truck turned left onto the open lane and then immediately veered between two barrels into the closed lane and continued down a ways. The three cars behind the truck followed suit.
When is it ever a good idea to follow a construction truck thru barrels into a closed lane?
When the open lane is uncomfortable to drive on and the person leading you breaks the boundary.
The lane wasn't closed because it was being worked on, it was closed because the backhoe was swinging his bucket into the space and needed the liberty of knowing vehicles weren't needing to be accounted for.
I didn't follow suit. I drove the road in front of me. The open road. The road that we were being asked to drive on and guess what... all the people behind me followed suit.
Outside of the awkward lineup at the next stop light 500 feet down the road, there wasn't any damage to vehicles... just a few damaged egos pulling out of the closed lane and trying to merge into a single lane, but how often do we find our selves acting like sheep being herded and just following the butt in front of us? Seth Godin in his book "Tribes" calls it sheep walking. It's the art of not thinking and thus not leading. It's the theory that if the person in front of you did it and didn't die, it must be the right way when all signs point otherwise. Sometimes we just need to lift our head up and read the signs.
People are longing to be lead. They will follow you on a road that is closed and they'll follow a leader that takes them down the road that has a few obstacles but ultimately brings you the destination that yields the most productive result.
What will you be? A sheep walker? or someone who's willing to count the cost of being right or wrong, read, and make a good decision? Everyone around you is looking for permission to do the right thing. Be the first and watch the culture shift in your sphere of influence.
The interesting thing about the open lane was that it had three sections of the road removed and prepped for resurfacing. The prep work was about 80% complete, but there was still a 2-3 inch dip that was noticeable. They had heaped asphalt on the transitions to make for a pretty bumpy ride, but that's what they needed us to do... travel a road that was under construction. The closed lane had no vehicles working on it... and the open lane had uncomfortable travel conditions. Hmmm....
It was visually confusing unless you read the signs.
When is it ever a good idea to follow a construction truck thru barrels into a closed lane?
When the open lane is uncomfortable to drive on and the person leading you breaks the boundary.
The lane wasn't closed because it was being worked on, it was closed because the backhoe was swinging his bucket into the space and needed the liberty of knowing vehicles weren't needing to be accounted for.
I didn't follow suit. I drove the road in front of me. The open road. The road that we were being asked to drive on and guess what... all the people behind me followed suit.
Outside of the awkward lineup at the next stop light 500 feet down the road, there wasn't any damage to vehicles... just a few damaged egos pulling out of the closed lane and trying to merge into a single lane, but how often do we find our selves acting like sheep being herded and just following the butt in front of us? Seth Godin in his book "Tribes" calls it sheep walking. It's the art of not thinking and thus not leading. It's the theory that if the person in front of you did it and didn't die, it must be the right way when all signs point otherwise. Sometimes we just need to lift our head up and read the signs.
People are longing to be lead. They will follow you on a road that is closed and they'll follow a leader that takes them down the road that has a few obstacles but ultimately brings you the destination that yields the most productive result.
What will you be? A sheep walker? or someone who's willing to count the cost of being right or wrong, read, and make a good decision? Everyone around you is looking for permission to do the right thing. Be the first and watch the culture shift in your sphere of influence.
