What's got you flat?
I grew up walking, using public transit, and bumming rides to destinations beyond the reach of my first two options. I rode a bike through art school. If you’re ever bored, try strapping a pile of 2×4′s to the back of your bicycle and ride uphill in Philadelphia traffic. On the plus side, hauling those art supplies made getting groceries a joy ride.
With the amount of mileage I put on that bike, it was inevitable that I eventually have a flat. The first flat happened a few miles from home, and to protect the rims, I carried the bike on my shoulder all the way back. I became familiar with all sorts of inconvenient locations to have flats. After about three dead tires and a sore shoulder later, I started carrying a can of Fix-A-Flat in my backpack. I’ll spare the details… lets just say Fix-A-Flat makes tire repair very entertaining.
My experience on a bike taught me that there’s two kinds of holes. Small ones and big ones. I could patch minor punctures, but large gashes almost always required replacements. Punctures and gashes are inevitable. Just as I couldn’t predict the mariachi band’s broken crate of tequila bottles, the same goes for business. You will get punctures. You will get gashes.
What should you do when your company gets a flat? Here’s four questions to help you assess the damage:
- What is flat?
- What was the original function?
- Will it continue to malfunction, or will it resolve itself?
- Is the malfunction beneficial in any way?
This isn’t the method to use for a complete blowout. If your problem was more “explosion” than flat, don’t bother asking these questions. Imagine I were to crash my bicycle through the windshield of a speeding car. I wouldn’t take time to contemplate why my face was planted inside a vinyl seat, nor would I count the loose change sandwiched to my forehead. If I were at all conscious, I’d call for an ambulance. And so, these questions are most appropriate for issues, not disasters.
What is flat?
That might sound silly, but you wouldn’t want a surgeon to operate on the wrong thing, would you? Just ask the silly question, and make sure you’ve identified what is flat. Once you’re staring at the right target, find the sore spot. You can immerse flat bicycle tires into a tub of water to locate small leaks by their trail of air bubbles. Tubs of water don’t come in business sizes, but the same approach can still be used. Find a way to isolate the flat. Place it in a different environment. Step back. Look for air bubbles.
What was the original function?
I hate to switch metaphors mid post, but I’m going to… I love brushing my teeth, and my wife got me an electric toothbrush. I stubbornly kept my manual toothbrush and only used the power brusher for special occasions. Just the other day, I almost threw it away because it wasn’t cleaning to my standards. Well, the toothbrush was almost a year old. Yes— gross, but remember, I rarely used it. I changed the head, put knew batteries in it and flipped the switch. Vr-r-r-r-r-oom! Squeaky clean teeth. That was the original function. A bicycle tire? To buoyantly roll you along your way. Business email? Well, not necessarily this. Know the original function.
Will it continue to malfunction, or will it resolve itself?
There are times where things work themselves out. This has yet to happen with any of my bicycle tires, but I thought it important to mention for business. Sometimes things are one-time occurrences, and in those magical cases, you can save yourself the hassle and just let them be. But if you conclude that your flat will continue to be flat, you need to take action.
It wouldn’t make sense for me keep riding with a flat, scraping along, with sparks flying behind my heels. Likewise, why grind your business into the ground?
Is the malfunction beneficial in any way?
This will be a silly question 80 percent of the time. Just keep it in mind for the other 20 percent. There are times when good things come about, like an accidental wheat bran spill on a hot stove. Your flats are not exempt from successful side effects. Watch for them.
If the flat has you stuck, patch it or replace it.
Patch it or replace it!
You aren’t really stuck if the malfunction has become a new invention, a better way to present data, or a greener way to produce cheese. But if there’s no benefit in sight, get out your tools. Whether you patch or replace depends on your company’s resources and goals. I’ll save that for a future post, but if you have any thoughts on that, add your comment below.
Just one last thought from the light footprint in me: be as patchable as possible.
How do you handle the small punctures and large gashes?
