The Single Most Important Self-Check in These Times of Upheaval

Are you building a bridge to nowhere?

To say the world is changing would be an understatement.

The raging-bull-loose-in-a-china-shop imagery is a more accurate depiction of how mental things feel in the present moment.

What is most striking about historic changes is how most lessons are learnt retrospectively. Few are able to effectively harness the opportunities such times present.

What massive a waste of opportunity!

We’re too busy reacting — maniacally trying to stay on top of everything or the opposite — we find ourselves immobilised by the sheer magnitude of stuff happening.

You might be falling into this trap — either doing entirely too much or too little. Maybe you’re among the minority doing the right amount. But even that might not be sufficient.

You see, it isn’t so much about doing something as it is doing the right thing.

If not then you might be busy building a bridge to nowhere. The ramifications can be severe and long-lasting for your life, career or business once the dust settles.

I’ll explain with this little known story of the Choluteca bridge — also known as the bridge to nowhere.

Building a bridge to nowhere

I recently found out about this story — a 484-metre bridge located in the city of Choluteca, Honduras.

It was built by the Japanese between 1996 and 1998 to create a new bypass road for the city. The largest constructed by the Japanese in Latin America.

In the year it was commissioned Honduras was hit by a powerful storm — Hurricane Mitch. When the storm was over the nation was devastated, millions of dollars worth of property was destroyed.

The Choluteca Bridge in contrast survived with only minor damage — a shining testament to Japanese craftsmanship.

There was just one problem.

Even though the bridge stood large unscathed, the land had moved. The terrain had changed so much that there was no visible trace of the roads leading to and from the bridge.

The Choluteca River itself had created a new path which no longer flowed beneath the bridge.

The Choluteca bridge quickly became known as The Bridge to Nowhere.

Adapting to a rapidly changing world

Now here’s the lesson to take away.

Look around you, the ways people think, work, live are undergoing massive shifts.

Are you thinking of going back to college to up-skill further in your current discipline? Think twice. The new world of work requires workers to gain different sets of skill that are more broad than deep.

Are you looking to open more brick and mortar branches of your business? Look closer. Physical workspaces are being phased out. Remote working is the in thing.

The goal is to adapt to the most likely version of the future. Not to double-down on what worked in the past. I hate to break it to you, but the past isn’t making a re-appearance. It’s history.

I wrote about a few more changes to expect in the future.

Are you doing the ‘right’ things?

That’s the self-check.

In a world that is transforming before your eyes give yourself a gift of foresight. Stop trying to do everything. Shake yourself out of stupor.

There is no-one who can give you the perfect answer for what to change in your business, life or career. That is heavy lifting that you will have to do for yourself.

Act quickly and you will have an edge over everyone still scrambling or waiting to for expert help. Who knows, you may become that ‘expert help’ in a year from now.

The plans you make today will determine where you find yourself tomorrow.

In 2003, the Choluteca bridge was reconnected to the highway. It stood dormant for five years after it was commissioned.

Five years of stagnation is a death sentence for your business or career. At the pace of change, if you are not moving forward then you are moving backwards.

Flexibility and adaptation are the new watchwords. Those who make it out the other end will have found ways to integrate and harness new ideas and tools.

Here’s some more perspective on what the future may look like.

You have all the tools available right now to secure your future. There’s no expert or soothsayer to tell the future. Neither is there a better time than right now to begin.

Get to work.