We can admit we’re not always huge fans of bridges. We live in an area where hurricanes and other storms have done damage to several bridges over the years, or we see impactful news stories about bridges. Yet, as long as it doesn’t impact our commutes or businesses that much, we often don’t pay much attention to them when they’re damaged slightly or being updated. It just seems they’re closed for a bit or adjusted in transit type, then you see the construction over a short or long period of time — and then ta-da they reopen or are done with whatever they were doing.
Thinking a Little Deeper
Many of us don’t give much thought to how to fix a broken bridge either. From our view we see a few options:
- Connect the broken pieces.
- Tear it down and rebuild.
- Tear it down and never rebuild.
The Simplicity is in the Process
Now we really don’t think it’s that simple. It’s a bridge with thousands of pounds of concrete. However, just like any unplanned project or change, here are some things to consider that can definitely relate to running a business:
- Wow, that bridge is broken.
- Let’s assess HOW that bridge became broken, was it outdated?
- Did it need to be updated?
- When was the last inspection/check-in?
- Did it work then? Did it know it needed to be fixed or changed then?
- Was there a plan to do it? What is broken? Is it just a section or the whole thing? Let’s review and inspect every piece to see.
- What do we need to fix?
- What did the original plan look like? Yes, let’s look at the original plan. What did it look like in the beginning? Does it need to still look like that? Do the plans need to be updated or should we start over completely?
- How long will this take to repair?
It can become clear that the most important step is going back to the original plan to start.