Don't Run Over The Cat
In his remarkable book The Score Takes Care Of Itself, Bill Walsh, the former legendary coach of the San Francisco Forty Niners Professional Football Team, shares a remarkable story. I have taken the liberty to call the story “Don’t Run Over The Cat,” but as you will soon discover, the story is about much more than running over a cat. Here is the story:
The local fire department was called in to help rescue a cat stuck up in a tall tree. After a couple of hours, they got the cat down from the tree. During all the congratulations afterward, the fire truck drove off and ran over the cat. Despite their hard work, they had no plan for what to do after the cat was rescued.
Walsh uses this story to illustrate a leadership practice he calls “writing your own script for success.” He contends that most people are “flying by the seats of their pants,” and have not taken the time nor the energy to comprehensively define where they are going and more importantly, what they intend to do once they arrive.
Many of us plan for failure. Unfortunately, not enough us plan for success. We are so focused on getting the cat down from the tree that we forget about the cat once it’s rescued. Running over the cat means that in our jubilation over the short-term rescue, we fail to consider the long-term result. Running over the cat means that we can be so focused on leaving where we are that we don’t consider where we are going. Running over the cat means that our frustration with our current situation has led us to adopt an “anywhere but here” mentality. But an “anywhere but here mentality” often leads to nowhere.
So here’s today’s question: In what ways am I “running over the cat? To put it differently, have I defined where I want to go and what I plan to do once I arrive? Answering this question is crucial because the destination is just as important as the deliverance.
In a scene recorded in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses makes a pithy and powerful statement to this effect. While neither widely read nor understood, the Book of Deuteronomy contains a wealth of insight. The name of the book is actually the key that unlocks its unique significance. It means “second” (deuteros) “law” (nomos), and allows us to eavesdrop as Moses retells the history of Israel to a generation that was born in wilderness. He had given the law once to their parents, and now he is giving it again to them. This second generation has been wandering aimlessly for four decades, and are now poised to enter the promised land. Moses’ job is to prepare them for what is next. He wants them to know where they are going and why. He says to them:
And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: and the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: and he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. Deuteronomy 6:20-23.
Moses says that God “brought us out….to bring us in.” In other words, The destination was just as important as the deliverance. The story of getting the children of Israel out of Egypt is told in 15 chapters. The story of getting the children of Israel into the Promised Land is told in 112 chapters! You could easily make the argument that the entire books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy are the script for success.
That same proportion should characterize our thoughts, our prayers, and our deeds. We should spend far more time pinpointing, planning and plotting where we’re going than we do complaining about where we are. Write a success script for your faith. Write a success script for your family. Write a success script for your finances. Write a success scrip for your future.
Because if you don’t, you will probably run over the cat.