The second week of our launch has ended. As I look back on the challenges, in hindsight many of the solutions are now obvious. They did not seem that way when we were struggling with them. The complexity of the chaotic moments of discovery masked an easy solution. The quantity of eyes and hands that were fighting for answers often as much confusion as clarity. What should have been easy was not.
As I look at each situation, a common theme is beginning to emerge. The obvious was anything but. Simple answers hid behind complexity. Clear choices were overwhelmed by the noise of those trying to help. Even our solutions to help escalate lingering problems clouded what should have been clear.
What something seems to be is often what it is.
If there is a single mantra that I will remind myself of in the future, it is this. If the question seems obvious, ask. If the solution to the problem is clear, pursue it until you know it is not going to work.
Others have applied what I keep forgetting. One man said “it seems to me silly to send a prisoner all that way for a trial and not be able to document what he did wrong.” (Acts 25.27) The obvious is just that; obvious. What seemed silly was silly.
I have a tendency to makes things complex. If I am in doubt, I will over analyze the problem. When I am uncertain, I will endlessly explore every alternative. When fear haunts my decision, I will play everything out in my mind until I know the best solution. Most of the time, the obvious is the answer.
Today comes with decisions to be made. I know my analysis is incomplete. I understand that there is as much that I do not know as what I do. It would be easy to procrastinate in the hope that everything will be clear. Alternatively, I can move forward. I can trust my community. I can let the obvious be what it is. I can take a decision.
