Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1325965
ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION JANUARY 6, 2021 Page 18 The Stockdale Paradox and Portable Sanitation in 2021…continued from page 17 Continued on page 19 You are a successful business leader. You know how to do things. What haven't you thought about doing differently yet? Where do you feel stymied? Where are you holding off on taking action because you are hoping it won't be necessary? Now's the time to deal with those issues. While locked up for more than seven years, never knowing if today was the day he'd be freed or killed, Stockdale dealt with the challenges in front of him by being creative and encouraging resourceful problem-solving in his men. As Collins wrote: [Stockdale] instituted an elaborate internal communications system to reduce the sense of isolation that their captors tried to create, which used a five-by-five matrix of tap codes for alpha characters. (Tap-tap equals the letter a, tap-pause-tap-tap equals the letter b, tap-tap- pause-tap equals the letter f, and so forth, for 25 letters, c doubling for k.) At one point, during an imposed silence, [his subordinate] prisoners mopped and swept the central yard using the code, swish-swashing out "We love you" to Stockdale, on the third anniversary of his being shot down. So what if you solve some problem creatively and somehow that solution isn't needed? The act of figuring it out will make you a better business person and demonstrate better leadership than merely biding your time until COVID is over. I doubt that Stockdale would have felt his time was wasted if the POWs had been set free before they got to use their code. No energy spent finding new ways to succeed in business is ever lost if it makes your team stronger and shows them why you deserve to be the person in charge. Don't Listen to Everyone Portable sanitation is evolving. Even without COVID-19, our industry has been changing for years as new technologies come to market, challenges with disposal grow, and end users demand a different experience. Add a pandemic to the mix, and it is a lot for any business owner to consider as they grow a company. With or without the present virus, a company leader always needs to keep an ear to the ground. You need to know what facts and business trends are emerging. You need information to make good decisions. You need trusted advisors to bounce ideas off of. These are all good things. On the other hand, there are a lot of people with "wisdom" to share. Some of them are on television, talking on podcasts, or writing op-eds. Some of them are just industry people you know with an idea to chatter about. "Everyone has an opinion," as the saying goes. In times when no one knows for sure, try to resist the search for certainty. Predictions are a dime a dozen. But as Admiral Stockdale observed, "It is in disaster, not success, that the heroes and bums get sorted out." It is critical that you know what you want your business value proposition to be. You need to be able to both articulate your vision and adapt it to the current reality. And yes, you need people to use as sounding boards. But the only person who can make the call about what is right for you and your business…is you. There is no certainty except the uncertainty.