Goat Rope

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When we were going to check our mail in San Vicente, a road construction worker held up a sign that said “SLOW.” I turned to Janel and said, “They don’t have to advertise how slow they are working.” The two mile stretch of “road repair” in San Vicente has been going on for almost eight months now, and it seems to be getting messier by the day.
Just for fun, bring some chairs and your favorite beverage and sit in the middle of the dirt triangle across from the Tudela Retail Store when the traffic is busy. There are no signs or people directing traffic, and if you’ve got a sadistic sense of humor, you’ll be entertained as you watch how all the frustrated drivers try to squeeze their way through constricted, one-vehicle spaces that were previously two-lane roads.
One would think the intent of the project is to improve the road condition and make traffic move more efficiently, but it’s turning into the CNMI’s biggest “goat rope.” What’s amazing, though, is that it seems to work okay for the drivers because I haven’t seen any accidents or road rage issues. It’s proof that drivers in the CNMI are flexible and can deal with difficult situations.
“Goat rope” is American slang for a confusing, messy, or disorganized situation. Its origin comes from how new cowboys were taught the art of roping a moving target, such as a horse or cow. When I worked on my uncle’s farm as a 12-year-old in Holbrook, Idaho, I practiced roping a stationary sawhorse. Trying to rope a moving target exponentially increases the difficulty, and when those moving targets are much larger than you, it also increases the likelihood of getting trampled, dragged, or maimed. So the young cowboys would be put in a corral full of goats, which are smaller and less dangerous. The old timers would gather around the corral with their drinks and whoop and holler as they watched the amusing melee of goats, ropes, and cowboys.
The road construction work is a fitting metaphor for the general mess we’re in. The longer we deal with it, the worst it seems to get. The words "slow," "confusing," "messy," "disorganized," and "frustrating" are words that would fit aptly in a sentence describing your typical interaction with many of the organizations in the CNMI.
Amazingly, there have not been many serious altercations between the organizations and “customers” who are less than satisfied with the service they’re getting. It’s proof that the people in the CNMI are resilient and flexible when they experience inept, incompetent, or inconvenient service. But, do we have to put up with it, or is there a solution?
Although it may be entertaining to watch young cowboys hone their skills on panicked goats, the eventual outcome is that the cowboys will improve their ability and become seasoned ropers. In order for effective change to occur, the leader, manager, or a results-oriented person within an organization must be committed to make improvements. Here are ten steps that can turn a goat rope into a professional operation.
1. Recognize when something is wrong and realize that customers are not pleased.
2. Identify the specific problem areas that need to change. These might be obvious, but it is still good to talk to customers formally or informally to get their feedback and learn if there are unrecognized areas of difficulty.
3. Now it’s time to find solutions that will address the problems. This can come from brainstorming with staff, talking to customers, or doing some research to discover how others have solved similar problems.
4. List the alternatives and prioritize the solutions so you can choose the best one to resolve the problem. Also, identify the expected outcome for the solution so you know what success will look like.
5. Identify the resources needed to implement the solution. Also, create a timeline for the project to be completed.
6. Take action and hold a person responsible to act on the solution. It’s fine to have a group implement the solution, but if the group is collectively made responsible, it will be too easy for members of the group to dissipate the responsibility, which means that no one will feel accountable.
7. Periodically monitor the project to ensure that it is being completed on time and within budget. Create some type of dashboard that reports the most vital results of the project so discrepancies can be quickly identified.
8. Communicate progress to interested parties so they know what is happening. Lack of communication creates anxiety and misunderstanding.
9. When you’ve achieved your desired result, celebrate the accomplishment and recognize those who helped.
10. The last step is to systemize the process so that you won’t slide back into the normal pattern of behavior and find yourself “reinventing the wheel” at some point in the future. If needed, create standard operating procedures that are documented and regularly followed. Organizations with high turnover experience lapses in progress as new people are unaware of any progress that may have been made, and they tend to repeat what has already been done.
If your organization is experiencing the “goat rope” syndrome, then take the goat by the horns and implement these ten steps before someone holds up a “SLOW” sign where you work.