Difficult to forget

Original post:  June 22, 2015

He was so close.

Dustin Johnson started the last hole tied for the lead. He was about a third of a mile (610 yards) away from the hole. Two shots later, he would be about twelve feet away with a chance to win the tournament.

Twelve feet is only about four strides. Professional golfers will usually make this putt less than half of the time. Still, it's usually certain that a miss will leave them in position to simply tap it into the cup. Even if he missed the initial putt, it was likely that there would be a full day of golf ahead. For the US Open, ties are broken through an 18-hole playoff which can often be the ultimate test of golfing endurance.

When he missed his first putt, the ball rolled past the hole about three feet. This is the length of a single stride. A yardstick. A virtual layup. On this crazy day, four rounds and 71 holes of excellence were undone by a simple lapse. Dustin Johnson would go on to do this:

That miss cost him a chance at golfing immortality.

Where is the lesson in this? I suppose there is nothing in our workplace which is quite so dramatic. While the stakes in any given situation may be high, we rarely face these types of clear-cut decision points. Still, there is much complexity in what we do. We need to remain vigilant even in little things. Sometimes, the simplest acts can undo long days of work unwittingly. Those lost moments are really difficult to forget.

Here is a link to some further background:  U.S. Open 2015: Watch Dustin Johnson 3-putt to lose year's second major | AL.com

UPDATE:  Here are some calculations of the odds that Mr. Johnson could have made those putts. The odds of him missing both of those putts was 11-1 against!
Link:  Dustin Johnson’s U.S. Open choke was a statistical improbability - The Washington Post

Sorry seems to be the hardest word

Original post:  Dec 14, 2013

I messed up.

Last week, I got involved in a situation. I was trying to help my business partners. There was a crisis involving technology gone wrong. I tried to help myself, but provided no relief. I then tried another workaround. Unfortunately, I selected the wrong approach. After a volley of different exchanges, I soon realized that I had unwittingly stirred up a hornet's nest of issues.

The first instinct in such a situation is to get defensive. You could dig in your heels and double down. You retreat behind your walls and lob grenades in the opposite direction and they retreat behind their walls and lob them back. That decision usually creates more of a mess the longer it goes on.

I decided to take responsibility for my mistake. While it is not an easy thing to do, it is the right thing to do. I've attempted to reset the situation on the path it should have taken when the issue first flared up. While it may take more time to resolve, it respects the process and the others who have their own responsibilities to tend to in the meantime.

I hope that these days are few and far between....