“We want to watch the show, not be the show.”
– Miles, the river guide
A couple of weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of rafting the Upper Gauley River again, one of the great whitewater trips in the world. There are five major Class V rapids in this stretch of water, the last of which, Sweet’s Falls, includes a 14 foot vertical drop before settling in to a calmer pool below.
It’s a popular place for rafts to congregate and eat lunch on the busy river so you can watch boats find the right line above the rapid and make the huge drop successfully, as most do without incident. But some rafts flip, often in spectacular fashion, which can be quite a show. The crowd pitches in to help the rafters-turned-swimmers, so the danger, though real, is reduced, and a good time is had by all.
Our superb guide, Miles, was careful to say before we ran Sweet’s, that “we want to watch the show, not be the show.” We ran Sweet’s perfectly thanks to his able guidance and our strong paddling, thus avoiding being the show.
On the long drive home from West Virginia after a glorious day on the river, I realized that Miles’ quote was a good takeaway for work.
My IT team and I don’t want to be the show, which we are when technology does not perform as advertised, we miss a detail in our planning, or don’t communicate as effectively as we might.
We would much rather watch the show that happens when our clients, empowered by good equipment, the right preparation, and a good read of the river’s hazards, paddle hard and run tough tech rapids successfully. Next best is to be there in the calmer pool below to get them back in the boat and paddling when things don’t go the way they planned. The exhilaration we can share at these times is a lot more fun than being the ones who flip the boat. I think I’ll add this quote to some of our project planning documents.
Thanks, Miles. See you next year for the fall draw on the Gauley.
I’m always on the lookout for quotable quotes – feel free to send a comment with one you like!
Posted on October 29th, 2007 by Curt Lieneck
Filed under: Quotable Quotes
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