Thursday, June 01, 2006

An Ounce of Prevention

William P. Bundy once said that Americans have a Pearl Harbor mentality; i.e., they wait until things blow up before they do anything about them.

I've noticed that in consulting. The organizations that need us the most will use us the least and, when they do, it is often in response to a crisis. Someone may have said earlier, "Let's do X before it blows up," but when someone else said, "Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it," that was the death knell. The problem was put away and people could pretend that it was safe.

I don't intend to sing the virtues of prevention. We all know that tune. My point is more of a question: Why do we postpone addressing matters until they become worse?

Some possible reasons are:

  • Denial that it is a problem
  • Laziness
  • Budget concerns
  • Fear of losing control
  • Fear that the solution will be worse than the problem
  • Disclaiming responsibility
  • Love of the excitement that comes with a crisis
  • Fear of success
  • Self-loathing
  • Confrontation avoidance

Can you think of any others?

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