The Doom Loop

August 6, 2007

Since my husband was laid off I’ve been in what Jim Collins calls the Doom Loop. This entails a desire to skip build-up and go straight to breakthrough. It usually involves fads, no plan, no system, and reaction as opposed to action.

It has a paralyzing way to live. The sad thing is that that was over two years ago. If I had worked the flywheel instead of the doom loop I would have had something going by now. I knew the concepts because I listened to Good to Great around that time.

That’s one of my patterns. I hear a concept and get an intellectual understanding, then it might become part of my language. It takes even longer, if ever, before it becomes a part of how I do things…how I am. It usually takes life experiences that solidify that idea. Then when I revisit the concept it starts to take root.

I guess it fits with the idea of planting the seed, watering it, making sure it gets sun, and then it starts to root, to grow, and over time it puts out fruit.

Maybe that’s the way it is supposed to be. In this instant everything culture you start to feel like your broken if things don’t work out immediately for you.

Just today I was talking with my husband about the beets in the garden. It seemed like they were late this year. He said “No, they are ready 60 days from planting.” I realized that a farmer can’t really be an impulsive kind of person.

It sure explains some things about the differences in our families. His family is into delayed gratification and mine is less so. Farmers have their daily tasks and see the fulfillment of it at the end of the season depending on the circumstances.

Blue collar workers, like my family, get a job, go to work, and get a paycheck every two weeks or so. It’s hard work, but there’s no waiting, no building and little risk of losing it compared to the vulnerabilities a farmer faces.

It’s interesting to think how the industrial revolution has changed our culture. How is the information age changing us? It sounds like an interesting study.

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