Working on the Railroad

I'm reading a fascinating book by Richard White entitled "Railroaded: The Transcontinentals Making of Modern America." that details the wheeling, dealing and, sometimes, stealing that ensued during the building of railways linking the Pacific Ocean with America's heartland. In the last half of the 19th Century, one of the biggest impediments to the successful linkage of the existing railroads was the lack of a standardized track gauge, i.e. the distance between the rails. Today, the standard gauge is 4'8.5". In 1860 there were over 20 gauges among the 31,286 miles of track. A train would stop where its track gauge stopped unless the adjoining rails were of similar gauge. Imagine driving down a highway, turning the corner and realizing the road narrowed to one-half of your car! In the American South 5' was the standard gauge while in Canada it was 5'6". White writes that "different gauges were akin to dams in the thin streams of iron flowing through the continent." In my hometown of Philadelphia through-freight arrived at one terminal and was off-loaded and carted across the city by wagon to another train terminal for outbound shipment. Talk about inefficient! While on paper, the rail system in the United States appeared to be branching out across the nation at a breathtaking pace, the reality was quite the opposite. Without a common, shared track gauge, the US rail system would sputter and chug along far below its optimum capabilities. The promises of railroad visionaries rang hollow without a shared operating gauge. Recognizing the threat to national welfare, the US Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act of 1863 mandating the adoption of today's standard gauge. Thus ensued the golden age of rail transportation in the United States.

As a Certified EOS implementer this historic railroad narrative resonated deeply with me. In our beginning work with top teams EOS Implementers ask each team if they are willing to become their best. Part of "The Journey" toward excellence is a strong commitment to work on one operating system for their company. As the railroads of the 1860's experienced confusion and inefficiencies due to a lack of a standard gauge, firms without a standard operating system are inviting unneeded complexity, frustration and suboptimal performance. Not sharing a common vision and crippled by competing priorities, top teams are subject to the whims of "flavor of the month" management. Bouncing from one "good" idea to the next leaves the staff frustrated and cynical with the only winner being the competition! EOS provides a firm with a "standard gauge" to keep all business components connected and operating at optimal efficiencies. As an integrated, holistic system EOS ensures that leadership teams operate on a "standard gauge" — speaking the same language, sharing a common vision and creating the necessary traction to make sure the trains keep running on time! Now, that's what I call "Working on the Railroad!"