Worth Saving?

“If we join together, we shall not only have saved the Union; but we shall have saved it, as to make and to keep it forever worthy of saving.”

          –     Abraham Lincoln, as quoted by Doris Kearns Goodwin in her book, “Leadership in Turbulent Times” 

Is whatever we’re spending our time on worth saving?  Corporately speaking, sustainability, relevance, viability and save-worthiness are real issues in these times.

Lincoln was speaking during a debate of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the issue at hand was slavery, which is clearly much more significant than anything we’re facing today.  Lincoln was hoping to keep slavery from spreading North, while engaged in the bigger fight to abolish it entirely.

While Lincoln’s fight was much bigger and more important than much of what we face in our workaday lives, our workaday lives are important to our families, our futures and our economy.  For example, I spent a good part of my career in banking technology.  Many providers in that space are trying to make sure they’re worthy of saving (or figure out if they are), while many of the institutions they serve are also trying to decide in they’re worthy of saving.  What hangs in the balance are the communities those institutions serve, who are very much worth saving.

The issue likely exists in whatever market you operate.  Consolidation, commoditization and internetization (I made up another word!) of industries and markets are occurring at every turn.  And, while it might often feel like we’re in a fight for survival, the time to act is before we get to that point.  It’s why Lincoln fought this fight when he did, to keep the “enemy” from advancing, and to buy time to win the bigger fight.

Yeah, sometimes it’s about buying time and living to fight another day.  When it is, the longer-term strategy had better be solid, the bigger fight winnable to make that next day worthy of saving.  If we’re confident our longer-term strategy is solid, the time to act is now.  And when we do it pays to remember the first four words of Lincoln’s statement above.  “If we join together.”  Knowing who is “in it” with us is key.  Building deep, mutually-committed relationships with them is critical.  Being in the fight with people who care as much as we do about the outcome will ultimately make a difference, and might just make us worthy of saving.