"Don't Get Stuck on Stupid..."

With the horror caused by Hurricane Katrina and the impending doom of Hurricane Rita headed towards Texas, everyone is asking "why weren't we properly prepared for Katrina" and "how will we not repeat these same mistakes with Rita." While these are important questions that need to be asked, do they really need to be asked right now? According to Lieutenant General Russel Honore - No! the answers to the how's and why's can definitely wait. During a press conference Tuesday with Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, the press continually asked the mayor (who was trying to explain to people in New Orleans where to go to be transported out of the city) how would New Orleans handle this compared to Katrina? what went wrong with Katrina? and other questions that served no purpose in helping explain evacuation routes and schedules. Lt. Gen. Honore stepped in and took over for Mayor Nagin and ended the inane line of questioning. In a precise and direct manner Honore explained where buses were located to take citizens out of the city. The press wouldn't let him get away that easily though, one reporter responded with, "...that didn't happen the first time..." to which Honore quipped, "This ain't the first time." When the reporter pressed the issue he was told by General Honore, "You are stuck on stupid." While this may seem a little harsh, the General went on to explain his statement; they are working against a deadline to evacuate people and with so many questions about past events with Katrina, the General's concern is that people will not receive the evacuation information, or will simply be confused. I don't think General Honore could be more right on. So often in business and in our personal lives we get "stuck" by petty issues, finding blame and our own egos. This isn't to say that past failures and mistakes shouldn't be studied and understood (after all, one way not to repeat a mistake is to understand why it happened the first time) but when problems arise we might all benefit from forging ahead and handling the issue, and worrying about the why later. I can look back at times that I let a problem frustrate or infuriate me so that it delayed me in getting the job done (be it business or personal). I would have been better off not to get "stuck on stupid" and just to push to get the situation under control. There is definitely a need to understand what went wrong with Katrina. Unfortunately, I think the inquiry into the nightmare will only serve as a search for blame. Think of the power there is in blame; we place it on someone or something else and then we can wipe the sweat off our own brow because we are safe, it isn't our fault, we weren't wrong. Blame's great - it's even better when we can blame it on something instead of someone, because a thing - be it your computer, phone, fax - can not argue back, and there you go - you're safe and it's not your fault. The main problem with this is that nothing is ever learned and people are more likely to continue encountering the same types of problems because everyone involved was too scared to be blamed to actually seek answers. I absolutely love General Honore's no-nonsense approach to the situation. He knows his goal is to get people out of Rita's path, he refuses to play the blame game or even discuss the mistakes with Katrina and I think because of his keep- pushing- forward attitude, he'll meet his goal and worry about doing things differently later - when he has the luxury to do so. I wish Honore's attitude would become contagious in our government and amongst all of us - think of how much more we may all get done! The next time I'm being blinded by my own frustrations, ego and need to blame, I'd love for someone to say, "Joy, you're stuck on stupid." (actually, it would probably tick me off) So, maybe telling a coworker, friend or spouse that they are "stuck on stupid" isn't the best idea, but refusing to get "stuck on stupid" ourselves would be a great thing. More: See Honore's press conference Read the transcript