Lesson #3 From The Johnstown Flood (1889)
When the South Fork dam collapsed in 1889, sending 5 billion gallons of water hurtling down the Little Conemaugh River toward Johnstown, Pennsylvania, (sweeping more than 2000 people to their deaths), the courts blamed God since He is in charge of rainfall. That’s convenient, but it’s not as simple as that.
In Lesson #1 we learned that brush, hemlock boughs, hay and horse manure were used to repair the cracks and leaks in the dam. Horse manure? Yes! No wonder the dam collapsed. But it’s not as simple as that.
In Lesson #2 we learned that the discharge pipes were removed and the spillways clogged so there was no way to release the water as it rose. No wonder the dam was breached when the heavy rains came. But it’s not as simple as that.
At some point, a few feet were graded off of the top of the dam so it would be wide enough for carriages to pass each other as they enjoyed an afternoon of sight seeing—going back and forth across the dam. After all, the top of the dam is the very best place to view the lake and one way carriage traffic is very inconvenient. The lowered dam meant it would be breached sooner as the rains came. But it’s not as simple as that.
Somehow, no one knows for sure how, when the grading was finished there was a low spot in the middle of the dam. Therefore, when the water began to first breach the dam, it was at the low spot in the middle where the water pressure is the highest. (The pressure is highest where the water is deepest.) So the highest pressure was at the lowest and weakest part of the dam. Surely that explains why it failed. But it’s not as simple as that.
There is no simple explanation as to why the dam failed. A combination of record rainfall, horse manure, clogged spillways, a widened carriage path and shoddy grading job were all in the mix. But it’s not as simple as that because except for the rainfall, all of these things happened because of decisions made by the South Fork Dam leaders. The dam failed because it was weak, but it was weak because the leadership was weak.
Organization failures often follow the same pattern as the South Fork dam: cut a little here, a poor decision there, some compromise for convenience, ignore some known weaknesses, add in some extra pressure from the outside, then boom, the whole thing (business, church, family, etc.) suddenly and rapidly collapses and a lot of people are swept away. Call it whatever you want, but the truth is: it’s a leadership failure.
Leadership is not easy and it’s not simple because complexity is a fact of life. Businesses are complex. Ministries are complex. Government is complex. Even families are complex. There are a lot of things that can go wrong and it’s the leader’s job to make sure they don’t. So the next time you hear yourself saying “it’s a no brainer” or “that’s simple,” be careful, because not much in today’s world is really as simple as that.
[Read the full story of the flood in The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough, my favorite author in the genre of American history.]
Lesson #2 From The Johnstown Flood.
We sat, glued to the TV for two days (May 1-2, 2010), watching in real time as the waters kept rising. The Cumberland River, the Harpeth and the Stones, all overflowed to levels not seen in over 50 years. Downtown Nashville went under, along with Opryland, east Nashville, Bellevue and Franklin, all victims to the great Nashville Flood of 2010. Before it was over, thousands of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed and 21 people were dead. But it could have been worse, much worse.
Nashville is down river from five dams (Center Hill, Cordell Hull, Dale Hollow, Percy Priest and Old Hickory). These dams hold back thousands of times as much water as did the South Fork Dam above Johnstown, Pennsylvania. All released a lot of water, but they didn’t collapse. Two of them, the Old Hickory and Percy Priest dams, are as close to Nashville as South Fork was to Johnstown. If either of these dams had collapsed…well, don’t even think about it.
In addition to being patched with horse manure (see last week’s post), why did the South Fork dam collapse, sweeping away more than 2000 people?
Two important features of dam design are (1) discharge pipes that can be opened to lower the level of the water and (2) spillways that release rising water before it reaches the top of the dam. The higher the water, the greater the pressure on the dam, so releasing the water before it reaches the top of the dam is critically important.
At the South Fork dam, there were no discharge pipes…no way at all to lower the level of the water. As the rain hammered down and the water continued to rise, there was nothing they could do but watch. Higher and higher the water rose until it reached the spillway. But the spillway was clogged and couldn’t do its job. In order to keep fish from escaping the lake, a screen of closely spaced rods had been put across the spillway. During the heavy rain, all kinds of debris had drifted down the lake, caught on the rods and clogged the spillway, making it nearly useless. No discharge pipes…a clogged spillway…rising water and higher and higher pressure on a dam repaired with horse manure. A recipe for disaster? Yes.
And it’s a recipe for disaster in your personal life and for your organization. When the pressure is on, you better have a way of lowering the level of the water. Make sure your discharge pipes are working and your spillways not clogged. If you let the pressure rise too much, sooner or later, you—or your organization—will collapse and the casualty list will be high.
Feeling the pressure today? Don’t ignore it. Do something about it! A few suggestions that can help your organization, you personally, or both:
◊ Simplify—reduce the number of activities, projects, programs, special events
◊ Get help—don’t carry the load by yourself
◊ Rest—sometimes the best thing you can do is just shut down for a few days
◊ Exercise and eat right
◊ Make sure you aren’t the source of the pressure
Any reason you can’t start cleaning out your spillways today?
[For the full story of the flood, read The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough, my favorite author in the genre of American history.]
Lesson #1 From The Johnstown Flood.
On May 31, 1889, at 3:10pm, the South Fork Dam collapsed, releasing nearly 5 billion gallons of water in 35-40 minutes into the Little Conemaugh River (about the same amount of water that flows over Niagara Falls). One hour later, a wall of water—60 feet high in some places—hit the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, devastating the town and sweeping more than 2200 people to their deaths. The courts ruled the disaster was an Act Of God, and the heavy rainfall certainly was. But the collapse of the dam was caused by the acts of men. There is a lot for us to learn from the story of the Johnstown Flood, lessons that can help us avoid disaster in our personal lives and in our businesses or ministries.
The first break in the South Fork Dam occurred in 1862. However, since the lake was only half full and the watchman reduced the pressure on the dam by opening the relief valves, there was little flooding and the event was soon forgotten. The dam was not repaired and the lake was nearly empty and unused for almost 20 years until the South Fork Fishing And Hunting Club purchased the property and undertook repairs. Well, repairs may be an exaggeration because what they really did—to save money—was:
“…set about repairing the dam by boarding up the stone culvert
and dumping in every manner of local rock, mud, brush, hemlock boughs, hay,
just about everything at hand. Even horse manure was used in some quantity.”
David McCullough
The Johnstown Flood
I do not claim to be an expert in the construction or repair of earthen dams. But I am pretty sure that brush, hemlock boughs, hay and horse manure are not particularly effective materials for repairing a 60 foot high dam holding back 5 billion gallons of water. Relief and repair are not the same thing. It is often easier, less costly, and faster to fix problems with horse manure, but sooner or later….
Problems do not go away, but they do go underground or are covered with horse manure. It will always be more costly in the long run to ignore, patch, or cover problems rather than fix them. The South Fork Dam was certain to collapse when the pressure got high enough, and whatever you have in your life…your business…your ministry that is patched with horse manure is certain to collapse too.
Start today. Don’t wait until it is too late. Use concrete and rebar to fix the leaks in your life and organization. In the long run, you’ll be glad you did.
[For the full story of the flood, read The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough, my favorite author in the genre of American history.]
Today is February 1st—one month in to 2011. January is gone and it wasn’t a great start to the year. My list of things undone is longer than I would like.
Thirty-one days ago, January was the most important month of 2011. But now it’s February. Why? Because February is NOW—it is what I have to work with. I can’t do anything about the misses in January and waiting until March will only make things worse. So now, my whole year hinges on what I do in February.
I have a choice to make. I can throw in the towel for the year, lower my goals for the year, or restart with renewed determination to finish well anyway. What will it be? I have to decide today. If I wait until tomorrow, another day is lost.
Leaders face this kind of choice regularly. And everyone in the organization is watching. Whatever the reason for the misses in January, the leader will set the pace for February. And remember, February is now the most important month of the year.
What will you do? My suggestion: don’t lose a day!
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men,
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
Organizations are like Humpty Dumpty: sooner or later they are at risk of a great fall. GM took a great fall when Toyota and Honda came along. They are trying, but it is too soon to tell if they can put GM together again. Blockbuster has taken a great fall—pushed off the wall by Netflix—and probably won’t be able to put the pieces together. Sometimes companies jump off the wall (Lehman Brothers—risk and Enron—dishonesty) and sometimes they slowly slide down the wall to the bottom (newspapers and telephones). All the king’s horses and men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again, and if you wait until it’s too late, you may not be able to put your pieces together again.
Conventional wisdom has been “if it’s not broke, don’t mess with it.” But reality is “if it’s not broke, it will be.” Wise leaders—while working the plan in 2011—are also looking ahead to 2015. Technology will be different. Customer preferences will be different. Demographics will be different. Competition will be different. The question is: Will your organization be different or will you take a great fall? If you are going to be different, now would be a good time to get started.
[By the way, great falls can also happen in your personal health, finances and relationships. Get started in those areas as well!]
As you start 2011, I’m sure you have a lot of goals for your organization. There are opportunities to seize and problems to fix; good things you want to make great and mediocre things you want to make good (or get rid of). But a big question for you is: do your associates have the same goals? Are they really plugged in—engaged—ready to give their all to make it happen? Or are they sitting on the sidelines watching, and waiting for you to tell them what to do?
Getting your employees to plug in to organizational aspirations is essential if you want to actually achieve your goals. Engaged employees perform at a much higher level. (There are mounds of supporting data, plus in your heart you know it’s true because you know how your own performance excels when you are plugged in.)
How to get your associates actively and positively engaged is a multi-faceted subject—too broad for a one page blog posting. But start with this:
“People today demand personal relationships with their leaders
before they will give themselves fully to their jobs.”
Bill George
True North
Your employees will engage with you when you engage with them—not before. Why don’t you get started today?
There are only 11 days left in 2010—less than 2 weeks. So what can you do in these last 11 days that will make a difference in 2011? Let me suggest a variation of Stephen Covey’s Habit #2 (Begin With The End In Mind from The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People):
End 2010 With The End Of 2011 In Mind
What are three things you want to be different—in your personal life, in your family, in your organization—by the end of 2011? Three things that if accomplished will make 2011 not just a good year, but a great year! Take your time. Don’t be too quick to choose. You have 11 days before 2011 is here, so give some serious thought to this. Take these steps:
Enjoy the holidays! Celebrate the birth of Christ! Spend time with friends and family! But also, take some time to End With The End In Mind. This time next year you’ll be glad you did.
Wise men still follow Him. Merry Christmas!
Driving home from Indiana a few days ago (cruising along at about 75mph on I65), I was passed by a Toyota Prius running about 80mph. A Prius is a gasoline-electric hybrid that is known more for its gas mileage (50mph) than for its power (1.8L, 98hp) and speed.
However, this Prius was different—it had a rear spoiler—just like Jimmie Johnson’s #48 NASCAR Chevrolet. Even though it passed me, I’m sure it couldn’t pass Jimmie Johnson because a Prius—with or without a spoiler—is still just a Prius and is not ready for NASCAR.
A spoiler may make a Prius look racy, but it doesn’t make it a race car. It is what’s under the hood that counts.
In the same way, a title doesn’t make you a leader. A position and big office doesn’t make you a leader. Being the owner, or CEO, or Lead Pastor doesn’t make you a leader. Dressing like a leader; talking like a leader; acting like a leader; none of these make you a leader.
Having trouble getting people to follow you even though you have the title and the office? Maybe you are relying too much on your rear spoiler instead of what’s under the hood. Ask someone you trust—they’ll tell you.
In his book, Don’t Step On The Rope!, Walter Wright uses lessons from his mountain climbing experiences to share leadership principles. He uses the “rope” between climbers as a metaphor for the connection between leaders and followers: “The rope is the relationship between the leader and follower.”
In mountain climbing, the rope is critical. If it is too tight, one of the climbers is always pulling against the other—neither can move freely. So it needs to have some slack, but not too much slack. If there is too much slack, the following climber can step on the rope causing it to suddenly tighten and pull the lead climber off balance. Either of the climbers off balance is a danger to both since they are connected by the rope. But even worse, since climber’s boots have metal cleats, stepping on the rope can damage it. A frayed rope under tension can quickly unravel putting both climbers in peril.
The parallel to leadership is obvious. The relationship between leaders and followers must have some slack, but not so much that someone can step on the relationship and damage it. And also, the relationship can’t be so tightly held that no one can move freely. The leader and the follower share the responsibility for the condition of the rope—the connection between them. Whichever you are, do your part!
[Don’t Step On The Rope! is a creative and stimulating book that I highly recommend.]
I hate Bermuda grass. Why? It spreads uncontrolled into our mulch and hides the underground nests of fire ants. How many stings did I get? Twenty-six! Did they hurt? Yes! Did I get revenge? Yes! (Using Bonide MAX.) And while I was at it, I poured out my wrath on an underground nest of yellow jackets before they stung me.
Organizations have underground nests that can sting as well—nests that have a different mission…or personal agendas…or are only concerned about their self-interests. As the leader, you cannot let these nests grow and thrive. In fact, you need to pour Bonide MAX on them ASAP or you will get stung and the organization hurt.
First, make sure the underground nest doesn’t exist because of your ineffective leadership. Sometimes nests develop because the workers are simply trying to survive and have no confidence in the leader to actually lead them. So they choose a queen to follow and go underground as a survival mechanism. As in all things, always start with self-examination. Not sure if you’re the problem? Ask someone who will tell you the truth.
Second, you have to get rid of the queen. All fire ant and yellow jacket nests have a queen at the center of everything. Your organizational underground nest will have one too. Whatever you have to do, get rid of the queen! Until you do, the nest will grow in size and continue to buzz around stinging everyone that is not part of the nest.
Third, you need the workers, so try to eradicate the nest without eradicating all the workers. Give them a reason to choose to follow you instead of the queen. Being a leader instead of boss is a good way to start.
Enough fire ants stings can be fatal to small animals. Underground nests in your organization can be fatal too. So ignore them at your and the organization’s peril.
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