From pipeline to pipe dream

Once upon a time on a beautiful island there lived a village of happy people where the sun showered its warm face each day on the white beaches. Everything seemed ideal to the people who lived there; however, as the village population grew larger, the supply of fresh water from rain became less and less.

A council was held to find a solution to the problem. There were two good ideas, and it was decided to allow both individuals to try their plan and see which one was best. The first person, Statiskwo, made two buckets and would hike to the lake that was several miles away to get fresh water to pour in the village’s water container. He would have to get up very early before the other villagers arose, and make many trips so that water was available throughout the day. Statiskwo was happy because he was able to make money right away. This allowed him to hire some people to work for him, which helped create more jobs for the village.

The second idea came from Antrapranur, who seemed to disappear for several weeks. Statiskwo liked this because it made his idea look good, but Antrapranur spent those several weeks creating a plan, and getting the support from other individuals. Once he was able to get the resources and support he needed, he started to work on his solution to get water from the lake. A construction crew was hired to build a stainless steel pipeline from the lake to the village, and it would take several months to complete the project. The pipeline even had a filter that would supply clean water for the village.

Statiskwo could see that his idea was going to have problems once Antrapranur completed the pipeline, so he worked to get more support from the village by promising high paying jobs to the village elders and their families. More people were hired to hike up the trails to the lake, so a construction crew was hired to build safe trails, which created even more jobs. The graduates of the island schools were also promised good jobs with the company after they graduated. As Statiskwo’s business expanded, a board was established to oversee the business. The board was appointed by the chief, and many of the chief’s family and loyal supporters were now working in high-paying jobs that had nothing to do with getting water to the village.

It seemed that the more people that were hired for Statiskwo, the greater the need to create more departments and divisions to manage this expanding enterprise. A very generous retirement program was created and people knew they had job security as long as Statiskwo was there.

When Antrapranur finally completed his pipeline, it came time for the people of the village to vote on which idea they wanted to keep, and they chose Statiskwo. Poor Antrapranur was very confused. He had invested a lot into his idea, and he could prove it was more efficient, cheaper, and the water was better. He could operate his business for less cost and with fewer people that it took to run Statiskwo’s operation. Even though he could prove that it was better on paper and in practice, the people chose to keep carrying buckets, rather than use a more efficient pipeline.

Antrapranur reluctantly left the island and other villages on other islands embraced his ideas. He became very wealthy, and the villages that used his ideas became more productive. They were able to use their limited resources for more beneficial pursuits, which attracted more investors, and their islands prospered.

Over time, Statiskwo’s buckets started to rust and get holes in them, which made it even more difficult to get water. Because it was difficult to make payroll each payday, there was no extra money to repair the buckets. The people ended up with inconsistent water, and sometimes the whole village was without water for long periods of time. This caused some of the islanders to leave, and discouraged potential investors from putting their money in a place that could not take care of its basic needs.

Progress often means change, but this was too painful for the many villagers whose lifestyle depended on maintaining what Statiskwo had done. If Statiskwo were to change, it could mean the loss of many jobs, and the village elders might even lose the support of the people. So much depended on keeping what Statiskwo had done that only lip service could be given to adopt Antrapranur’s better idea. So this once happy island that had the potential of creating a pipeline of wealth for its inhabitants, instead became a pipe dream of empty promises.

There is scant time to make some real and lasting changes, but that time is soon slipping. For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: “It might have been!”

(Rik is a business instructor at NMC and Janel is the owner of Positively Outrageous Results. They can be contacted at: biz_results@yahoo.com)