Wonyamoeh!

Did you know that people flew on airplanes for decades before someone thought to put wheels on luggage?

Think about that.

We had already put wheels on bicycles, baby strollers, cars, trains, wheelbarrows and airplanes. Even children’s toys had wheels.

Yet travelers still carried heavy suitcases through airports.
Why?

It wasn’t because the technology didn’t exist.

It did.

What took so long was something far more interesting.

People had simply accepted that carrying luggage was part of traveling. It was normal.

Nobody stopped to ask the obvious question.

Why are we still carrying this thing?

The same thing happens in organizations.

Over time, we stop asking why.

We just adapt.

Take punctuality at our convention events.

Months before the convention, we already know the hall closes at 2 am. We know the program. We share updates. Many of us spend thousands of dollars preparing for the convention.

Yet on gala night or cultural night, some of us stay in our hotel rooms for hours and show up very late.

Then 2 am comes.

The DJ stops. The guards ask us to leave.

And suddenly the problem is that we didn’t have enough time to dance. 

So we spend more money extending the hall, paying for extra hours and getting permits.

But what if the problem isn’t the closing time?

What if coming late is simply another piece of unnecessary luggage we’ve gotten used to carrying?

Imagine everybody showing up on time for gala night.

Same 2 am closing time.

But now we have hours to eat, socialize, enjoy the program and dance.

And instead of paying for extra hours because we came late, maybe that money could go toward making the night itself even better.

Sometimes the biggest improvements don’t require new technology or bigger budgets.

Sometimes we just have to look at something we’ve been doing for years and ask:

Why are we still carrying this thing?

And maybe an even better question for us:

What else have we accepted as normal simply because we’ve been doing it for so long?

Oma Nanu!