Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The Whack-a-Mole Business Model



Today was one of those days, I mean it was one of THOSE days. Before I left work last night I made a list of everything I wanted to accomplish this morning when I arrived at work.

Ha. I should have known better.

When I arrived my email was filling rapidly, my phone was red lighted (I had messages already), and shop drawings were stacked in my inbox.

Everyone knows how to play Whack-A-Mole. When the game begins, you take your mallet in hand, and try to hit the moles as they pop up.
If the player does not strike a mole within a certain time or with enough force, it will eventually sink back into its hole with no score. Although gameplay starts out slow enough for most people to hit all of the moles that rise, it gradually increases in speed, with each mole spending less time above the hole and with more moles outside of their holes at the same time. After a designated time limit, the game ends, regardless of the skill of the player.  wikipedia
Some days are nothing more than an extended game of Whack-A-Mole. Try as you might to solve one problem, another pops up, and another. You bring the mallet down. At some point you might develop a rhythm, and if you are lucky you start knocking them as quickly as they appear until you've hit them all.

You feel pretty good now. That is until that first mole pops once again. Then two more, then maybe three.

There is a simple truth behind the game. You can hit as much as you can but after a select amount of time the game is over "regardless of the skill of the player".  You can never beat the game, you can only try to get as many moles as you can in the allotted time. There are always more moles.

And with that knowledge the rhythm returns, the moles get whacked, one by one, until time runs out.

So keep trying for that high score, do your best, and enjoy the game.

Just be careful and watch your back.





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