Ready to throw in the towel?
Years ago I worked for a company that subcontracted work for a major motorcycle brand.
The motorcycle company was changing their warehouse strategy to a lean strategy. In short, the motorcycle manufacturer would hold less motorcycle parts in their facility, and request the parts from nearby facilities that were big enough to house the parts.
For example, the manufacturer would place an order that required brakes and seats. I would place the brakes and seats in the order needed for production and ship them across the street to the manufacturing plant.
This “lean” switch over required all of the nearby facilities that housed their parts to change their systems as well.
Needless to say, we weren't ready for this change.
The first night we switched things over was an absolute disaster. The manufacturing plant was running at full speed and we put it to a screeching halt. We shut down the manufacturing plant. Thousands of dollars lost in production.
I got a call to come back into my office and meet with the manufacturer and my team. All hell was breaking loose. That night seemed to have taken forever.
The owner of my company flew in from out of town and everything. As the night went on and we finally got back on track, I saw the owner walking through the warehouse. He walked over to the loading dock and looked out across the parking lot with his hands above his head. He stood there for some time just staring.
Months later, I asked the owner how he got through that night. He mentioned that moment he was standing on the dock.
He said these words to me, “Remember when I was standing on the dock with my hands on my head. Well that was the moment I was ready to quit. So much was going on in my personal life and now this. But something told me to keep going. Something told me that there were other options.”
That memory of him on the dock and that conversation we had months later, has always stuck with me. When things get hard I remind myself of that night. It was hell, it was hard, we pissed off a lot of people, but we got through it.
We came out stronger and better once it was all over.
Instead of throwing in the towel we found a better way. We changed our strategy. We changed people and roles. We made a pivot and found other options. Instead of throwing in the towel we fought for the brighter days ahead.
Entrepreneurship and self improvement aren't easy.
Each day is a roller coaster. You have many ups and many downs.
In the words of Rocky, “It ain't about how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”
How much you can take and keep moving forward?
