Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Some days it rains – literally and figuratively. Have a plan that provides a way to make use of the time.

I have been outdoors all day recently while taking a walk. Guess what? Some days it rains. Sitting in the office back in Northern Virginia we would look out the window now and then and comment on the weather. Windy, cloudy, sunny, and some days it would rain. Then we would sit back down on our fabric-covered chairs that would roll and swivel and move in eight other directions, put our hands on the keyboards and do whatever.

It is different outdoors. When it rains and rains heavy, what I planned to do may not be possible.

Rainy days bring to mind several questions. One of the more prominent questions is,

What do you do now?

This is a form of the old question,

What is Plan B?

Plan B is a good plan to have. I do much better at life when there is an envelope with “Plan B” scrawled on it. The contents aren’t as important as its existence.

Life is short. There are many wonderful, interesting, and learning-rich things to do. Plan B helps me take advantage of some rainy-day time.

My recent Plan B is “find a place to sit and drink coffee.” I catch up on reading and writing. I talk to people like the lady my age who had her seven-month-old grandson with her who was cute, had big blue eyes and reminded me so much of my grandson that I haven’t seen in five weeks that I wanted to cry. Then there was the elderly lady who ran a little diner that was rebuilt by people in the community after her original diner burned to the ground and they couldn’t let her go into retirement that way because they loved her too much. Then there was the evening spent with a thousand teenagers who didn’t realize they were supposed to be stupid, undisciplined, and rude so they were smart, disciplined, and respectful – even to an old guy wandering around in a bright yellow jacket.

Yes life is short and some days it rains. My life works better when I have a Plan B and wait out the rain with interesting things and wonderful people.

Does any of this apply to business or to the business of building systems? I think so. I also think you can find the connection and apply accordingly.