Why it’s important to know when to change strategies

Last week I wrote a post about having to pivot when necessary. Yesterday I had another real-life example of that. On Sunday, I noticed my front patio filling with water due to the rain, it wasn’t coming into the house, but it wasn’t going down the drain either.

Yesterday I went out to take a look, and the water levels were the same as they were on Sunday. To give you an idea, I could submerge my whole foot in the water.

I went to my trusty plunger and proceeded to, er, plunge. I did this for about 10 minutes, and all I achieved was getting myself wet somehow. It was time to try something else.

I had bought one of those plumber snakes that travel down a drain and clear the pipes a couple of years ago. I grabbed it from the garage and gave it a go. After a few jiggles, twists, and turns, I heard a gurgle, and before I knew it, I heard not just the sound of the glugging of water down a drain but the sound of victory.

How often does this happen to you? You go to your trusty strategy, but it doesn’t work. How long do you keep plunging for before you change your plan? Do you have a backup plan if your trusty strategy doesn’t work?

Remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result.