In a typical year, termites destroy far more homes than
hurricanes even though the latter gets all the news. The dramatic and violent
destruction of a hurricane demands our immediate attention while the gradual
devastation of thousands of tiny termites will go unnoticed until it is too
late to do anything about it. Also, the storm hits a large population, often
banding them together as they brace themselves against a foe. But the termites
attack isolated victims, often invisible to the rest of the world.
Such is life. The vigilant among us are always on the
lookout for the hurricanes, but too often we can miss the termites as they
quietly devour unnoticed. Both development and destruction are often slow,
gradual processes. Everyone remembers the climactic collapses of companies like
Enron and Bear Sterns, but for many companies, like Kodak, Nokia, Sears,
K-Mart, Toys-R-Us, Blockbuster Etc, it was a gradual decline that, in some
cases, spanned decades because no one noticed the termites. They became
crippled, not because of outside forces beyond their control, but because of
the deterioration on the inside that everyone ignored. Once great companies, they
are now obsolete or extinct.
You must be on the lookout for the little cracks and crevices
in your life, the gaps that let in the termites. The signs are there, but are often
missed because they seem insignificant in the moment so we ignore them. Even
the deepest declines start with a small slide. I think King Solomon was mindful
of this as he penned the words, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little
folding of the hands to rest; so shall your poverty come like a prowler, and
your need like an armed man.”
The biggest successes often start small, but so do the most catastrophic
failures. Kill off the termites.
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