A few years ago I was driving a winding back road in middle Tennessee. This was an area with mixtures of single houses, plant nurseries, and farms. As I passed a field I noticed a cow on the ground near the road. She was about half-way to delivering her calf. No one was around. No other cows. No people. So, I stopped at the next house to let them know.
The lady of the place came to the door, and I told her what I’d seen. She looked in that direction and said “Well, that’s good”. I told her I thought she would want to know. She asked, “Did she look like she was havin’ trouble?”. She didn’t seem to be. “Thanks for stopping” she said as she went back inside. I thought she would be excited and want to go and check or would call someone else who would go and make sure things were going well. She was very nonchalant about it. To her, it was no big deal. It was an everyday event on that farm.
I believe that the lady of the farm cared about the cow and calf. I believe she wanted both of them to be safe and healthy. But, for her, this was something that must have happened hundreds of times in farm life. She had experienced this before. She apparently believed that things would likely work out fine this time.
Sometimes “things happen” on Projects. Some people immediately respond intensely and want to go into ACTION to do something. That’s how I expected the farm lady to react. Others don’t respond excitedly. They may ask a question. They may make a suggestion or comment. But, for them, it’s nothing to cause them to take immediate action.
What makes the difference?
- To me, the calving was unique. To the farm family, it was an “everyday” event. After years of experience on a variety of Projects, you encounter situations that have happened before. They may have caused a reaction in the early days of your career, but, now, they are more common.
- The cow did not seem to be having trouble. Experience teaches you that there’s usually no need to “help” with something that’s working.
- Apparently, she had other more pressing things to do. More pressing than checking on another cow having another calf. When something that isn’t unique happens on your Project, it doesn’t have to distract you from more important things that need to be done.
To me, the birth of the calf was a unique and exciting thing to witness. I guess that birthing a calf is really no big deal – after you’ve experienced it many times.