Standing at the Crossroads

 

Over the weekend our ride took as to the little crossroads of Elberta, Utah. At the southwest end of Utah Lake, the 1920s vintage gas station is a reminder of a time gone by, but also announces a point of decision. Our original plan was to ride toward the sleepy little mining town of Eureka, have something for lunch and then return to the Salt Lake Valley via State Highway 36 and ride along the old pony express route, but the clouds looked ominous and although the chill in the air didn't stop the ride, neither one of us were too excited about getting caught in the rain or worse out in the middle on nowhere.

At the crossroads, the question was  turn right into Eureka and what looked like bad weather or left into Santiquin and a warm sandwich? We chose the sandwich.

There are often times during projects when you reach a crossroads and must make some hard decisions about how best to move forward. At those times it's important to evaluate the relative risk to reward that might be the result of taking one action or another. Keeping in mind the objectives of the project helps make those decisions easier. For example, the objective for getting out on the bikes Saturday was to enjoy each others company and have a pleasant (if chilly) ride. Turning right into an early fall rainstorm wasn't part of the plan, so we opted to take another road.

When standing at a crossroads and faced with a decision about a risky course of action, what do you do to ensure that the project successfully meets the objective?