The Snow Not Taken

Rarely do I not see a single runner or biker when out for a run. This is Denver, our citizens are dedicated to fitness, and, despite a low of -10 last night, it had warmed up to a balmy 30 today. My 2-year-old bernedoodle Zoey and I were stir crazy after 3 days of negative lows and single digit highs, so we hit the trail. She was literally jumping for joy to be outside and going for a run.

My pace was slow. We had received 4” of snow over the weekend, and the conditions were unpredictable. There was black ice, hard packed snow with ice underneath, plowed snow that looked safe but with streaks of thin snow underfoot, and some plowed stretches where the sun had melted the remaining snow so that the pavement was dry. And, of course, there was a lot of fluffy white snow that hadn’t been set foot upon.

In conditions such as these, the path you take can determine whether you move forward or slip and fall. What looks like the safest path can have underlying danger. There may be a completely clear segment, but to get there, you have to cross various conditions, and the clear segment is likely to lead to unknown risks moving forward. There are paths that, to the uninitiated, appear to be the most treacherous but, to those with a little experience and willingness to slow down and look past conventional wisdom, turn out to be the most gratifying and pose significantly less risk than all other paths. In the picture shown here, everything appears to look the same, but upon taking a closer look, every path mentioned here is available to the runner.

The corporate world can be like a run on a cold, snowy day. Change is inevitable, especially at the start of a new year. From the warm confines of your home office, the last thing you want to do is bundle up and risk falling. Different paths are available to move forward. Dramatic change may be forced upon you where you must choose a completely different direction. Depending on the conditions, you could slip and fall, or you might thrive and end up with a great result. Despite your best efforts, a clear path can quickly lead to greater risk.

In changing corporate conditions, I usually choose the path where the snow hasn’t been touched. It may be slower, but the risk is lower as the chance of black ice lurking underneath is almost zero, and I’ll be paving the way for others to follow, which is always gratifying. As I move into the new year, I’ll be looking for paths that have not been tread upon. Fresh snow is the best path for me, and, upon returning home, I’m always happy with that choice. As is Zoey.