A Letter from Chris Suarez

A LITTLE MUD, A LITTLE WIND, AND A BIG BOAT

There’s got to be a lesson here for us when a bit of wind, some mud, and a boat stops world trade and commerce in its tracks - or perhaps more appropriately, in its wake.  

This week the world watched as a shipping vessel 59 meters wide, 400 meters long and weighing 224,000 tons wedged itself into the bank of the Suez Canal. It created in effect a cork through one of the busiest canals in the world - connecting Asia and Europe. To put that in perspective for those not on the metric system, Ever Given as the ship is named, weighs 448 million pounds, is 193 feet wide, and some 1,312 feet long. This vessel is about as long as the Empire State Building is tall. The problem here?  The canal is just 656 feet wide. I’m no math major, but it seems like a round peg in a square hole…or more literally a 1300 foot long ship stuck in a 600 foot wide canal.

So here are the FOUR lessons learned from our friends in Egypt.

What seems like the fastest route is not always the fastest 

The Suez Canal connects the North Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It took two years to construct and began operating in 1869. It reduced the trip between Asia and Africa by about 9000 kilometers and 8-10 days of travel. That is, until this week. There are currently hundreds of ships anchored and in a holding pattern in the Red Sea. There are alternate routes, the most notable around the Cape of Good Hope on the Southern tip of Africa, but many continue to wait for good news and access to the shorter trip. They may be there waiting for some time. 

In business the shortcut isn’t always the shortcut. Depending on how long these ships need to wait, had they actually taken the longer route, they may have arrived at their destination earlier. Yes, it’s a longer journey that brings with it some challenges and dangers. But that sure and steady route still leads to the final destination. 

We often look for the shortcuts in business - the silver bullet, the secret, the fast track, the easy button. I’m reminded of when Theodore Roosevelt said, “Nothing worth having comes easy.”  The seemingly fastest route isn’t always the fastest.

Simple solutions can take care of some massive problems

One of the most comical and captivating photographs from the event is the cover photo of this blog post. It’s a 25,000 pound backhoe digging out a 224,000 ton ship. It’s the David to the Goliath. The photo went viral on twitter, made the rounds on late night tv, and became the butt of hundreds of jokes and thousands of memes. Many looked at it as a photo of the impossible, of wasted time and energy.

And yet, if we are patient enough, the simplest solutions can typically solve some of our biggest problems. They bought in the excavator and started digging. That little excavator has helped dig out about 20,000 tons of sand from around the bow of that ship this week. From the online scroller, it was comical. It seemed impossible for something so small to do any good or contribute any real value. But therein lies the power of consistency. Massive results can be achieved by seemingly small and oftentimes what we judge as “unimportant” activities.  

I often remind our business owners to play like the underdog. I’d rather be that little excavator than that monstrous cargo ship right about now. Playing like the underdog keeps us nimble. That impressive cargo ship? We see how easy it is to get stuck and how difficult it is to move once it does.  

If not dealt with, one problem can lead to a series of problems behind it

Sitting in the Red Sea, over 300 vessels and ships are waiting to continue their route through the Suez Canal. With the cargo carrier still wedged, they sit and wait. 

Besides the literally billions of dollars being lost every day, many of these ships are carrying livestock and animals. They were planning on a 6 day journey and have food and water for just that length of time. I need not explain what will happen with thousands of animals unable to eat food or drink water. One problem can quickly snowball into bigger problems.

In business if systems, people, or process problems aren’t dealt with in a timely manner, they always create bigger problems downstream (no pun intended). In most cases they stem from operational issues. I will often ask myself, “Is this a situational or systemic problem?” There will always be challenges, many of which we couldn’t have predicted, and some of which may never occur again. But looking at a challenge or problem subjectively will allow us to determine whether or not it was a very unique “situation” or could be “systemic” in nature. Situations will come up from time to time. Systems can be improved and prevent bigger problems.

We all feel stuck at times 

It doesn’t matter how big we get, what success we achieve, how strong we may seem, or how clear and bright our future looks. We will all get stuck at times. If you haven’t yet, you will. You’ll hit a bump. You’ll hit a wall. You’ll hit the bank of a canal.   

The Suez Canal has been open and in operation for over 150 years. For 150 years things went smoothly. Something of this scale has never happened before. Until it did.  

Here’s the lesson. Everyone jumped in to help and find the solution. Everyone jumped in to get the ship unstuck. They didn’t just shut down the canal and dig a new one somewhere else. Too often in business when we hit a wall, when the wind pushes us in the wrong direction, or when we get stuck, we decide we’ll just start over. We decide we failed. We decide this business, or this success, or this future is not for us. But in reality we just need to take a moment, build a strategy, and get our ship headed back in the right direction.  

So bring in the excavator, and start digging.  

Chris