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Roadblocks
2 min read · 456 words
Roadblocks are the obstacles that arise during operations, and the operator’s relationship with them determines whether operations get completed.
Every sustained operation contains roadblocks. The work that won’t proceed because of an unresolved dependency. The conversation that requires the other operator’s availability. The plan that hits an unforeseen condition. The development that stalled because of an issue the operator didn’t anticipate. These are not failures of planning. They are structural features of operating in conditions the operator does not fully control. The operator’s ability to navigate roadblocks is much more important than the operator’s ability to produce plans without them.
The mistake operators make: treating roadblocks as evidence the operation is wrong. The plan ran into difficulty; the operator concludes the plan was bad and abandons it. Sometimes the conclusion is correct — the difficulty revealed something about the plan that warrants abandonment. More often, the difficulty was a roadblock to be navigated, and the abandonment forfeited progress that the navigation would have produced.
The diagnostic that distinguishes the two: is the difficulty revealing that the operation’s underlying premise was wrong, or is the difficulty an obstacle within an operation whose premise remains sound. The first warrants reconsidering the operation. The second warrants navigating the obstacle. Most difficulties are the second; operators who treat them as the first abandon prematurely.
From the chair: when a roadblock arises, run the diagnostic before responding. Is this revealing a problem with the operation itself, or is this an obstacle within an operation that’s still worth pursuing. If the operation is still worth pursuing, the question becomes — what is the actual obstacle, and what operations would address it. The framing matters. The roadblock framed as this is impossible produces stuck. The roadblock framed as what specific obstacle is currently in the way, and what operations might address it produces movement.
The other application: roadblocks often resolve when the operator addresses one element and conditions shift. The dependency that gets unblocked. The other operator who becomes available. The unforeseen condition that resolves on its own. Some patience is part of navigating roadblocks. The operator who attacks every roadblock immediately with full force often produces unnecessary cost; the operator who addresses what can be addressed and waits for the rest often produces less cost with similar progress.
The operator who has navigated many roadblocks across years has a different attitude toward them than the operator who has not. The experienced operator knows that most roadblocks resolve, with patience and persistence, even when the resolution is not visible from the current vantage. The inexperienced operator interprets each roadblock as potentially terminal. The difference shows up in what gets completed.