Doubt, then Do

Sometimes our first reaction is negative, but then we wonder.

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. - Luke 5:1-11

Simon Peter was tired.

He had been working all night to no avail, and it was time to call it quits and go home.  But then a new guy comes on the scene and says he has an idea.

The initial reaction is reasonable.  We've just done this.  It is not going to produce anything if we do it again.

But then the doubt sets in.  What if he's right?

The only investment on Simon Peter's part is a little more time.  Go out.  Spread the nets.  Pull them in.  Go home.

Like a parable, I can see myself in both roles in this little story.  

I have been the manager with the idea, facing eye-rolling teammates who know better, eager to see this fail, because it will.  And I have been Simon Peter, raising my arms and shaking my head over the idiocy of doing more of the same and expecting different results.

But this is the paradox of sunken costs versus one more try.

In business, spending an inordinate amount of money on a project that that has not produced results, leaves us with a dilemma.  Do we add to the cost of this project to try to turn it around, or do we write it off as a failure?

The costs already spent are "sunken" because they are buried into the current result.  They cannot be retrieved, and if we spend more, we just add to that loss.

Unless it succeeds.

For Simon Peter, the money spent on the labor, having his team work the whole night, was sunken into the project of fishing that day.  He was already at a loss, and here is Jesus telling him to spend a little more.

For Simon Peter to say yes to that course of action took some courage.  He was going to ether look like a winner among his men, or a loser, and he took the chance.

As it is, winning changed his life, totally.

He became a leader of a movement that changed the world, all because he risked looking foolish.

If there is a message here, that could be it for me.  

This paradox had plagued me my whole career.  Do we try one more thing, or give up?

If I truly have faith, I just might try.

More to come...