Do we replace our old shoes or make the old shoes work?

For many years I have been keeping fit by playing pick-up basketball with a group of guys from 6 to 7 am on Tuesday’s and Thursdays. It’s a good run that has a mixed bag of talent from people who played high school, college, and various divisions of Men’s league.

I’m a mid-level player that best skill is my ability to run all day long from my years of playing soccer.

Recently I noticed that I wasn’t running as fast or jumping as high as I used to. I was experiencing some joint pain in my knees and ankles. It wasn’t like a sprain or a persistent bone on bone type of injury, just pain. I also noticed that my shooting was off. I’ve always been fairly consistent when it comes to shooting with the only problem being a shot that is too strong or not strong enough.

What was going on? Maybe I was just getting old and it was time to retire? Time to hit the gym, change my routine or something else? The kids from 1990’s movie Kindergarten Cop rang through my head “…maybe it’s a tumor?”

I did what any stubborn man would do. I hit the weights and I stayed after the game for over an hour taking shots from everywhere to figure out what was wrong. The answer was an enlightenment.

I was able to adjust the shot, noticing I was at times leaning forward just enough to disrupt the shot. I had fixed the symptom. But what was the root cause? Maybe the shoes? I had the shoes I was wearing for probably about 18 months. I checked them thoroughly and they were in great condition. Looking inside I found something troubling, the insoles were I went out and purchased a pair of ‘Superfeet’ insoles. If you do any kind of athletics, check out their product line, it’s impressive. I replaced the insoles with the new ones and tried on the shoes. What an incredible difference! The shoes felt like new and when I tried jumping and running, there wasn’t a hint of any pain or discomfort. I had found the source of the issue.

Many times when we are working in business, we run across problems. I have been at no less than 4 different clients over the last 18 months. All of the clients have problems but the common thread I’ve noticed is that the problems don’t tend to get fixed at the root cause, even if it’s a simple, cost effective, and life changing fix. The symptoms on the other hand are readily examined over and over.

I think there is a cause for concern in many of these companies. The basics of people, process, and technology that have been in place over the last century haven’t changed. The technology and the number of efficiencies available to all of us have matured. The information available to analyze every situation in the measures, metrics, and performance, has been greatly enhanced.