I don’t like plumbing and I’m not very good at it. I live in a 50-year-old house, so things break fairly often. Given that, you’d think I’d hire a plumber, but I usually struggle through, and do it myself. This past Monday night was one of those times.

I had just returned home from a long weekend of deer hunting. While I was gone, the handle broke off our bathroom faucet. This sort of thing always seems to happen when I’m out of town.

The opportunity

Without unpacking my hunting gear, I sprang into action. I spent some time taking apart the faucet to find the broken part and attempted to source a replacement. I went to my local hardware store and purchased a faucet repair kit that had some parts that looked similar to the piece that was broken. After returning home, I discovered that the various parts did not match. This was trip #1.

I went back to the hardware store to purchase what I believed was the modern equivalent faucet to what was broken. This was trip #2.

Only after returning home did I uninstall the broken faucet. There were no shut-off valves, so I had to shut of the water main for the whole house. When I uninstalled the faucet, it revealed an ugly discoloration on the vanity. The new faucet had a smaller mounting surface, which exposed the ugliness. Ugh.

Did I mention that I don’t like plumbing?

I went back to the hardware store again to find a different one that had larger mounting surface. I brought that home and it was too big. I couldn’t mount it to the surface without it hitting the mirror. Trip #3.

At this point, I was desperate. The water main was off, and it was nearly closing time at the hardware store (10:00 PM). I ran back and got the first faucet (which I had returned an hour earlier), so I could get the job done, ugly or not. Trip #4. I installed it, turned on the main, then the original water hoses under the cabinet leaked like crazy. I neglected to buy new hoses, and the store was closed.

I was completely defeated. I went to bed with no water, no faucet, and I needed to get to work in the morning with no means of showering. I also learned at this point that the faucet I picked up was not the style that my family had in-mind. I was beside myself with frustration.

A new day

I got up early and went back to hardware store when it opened at 6:30 AM. Trip #5. I bought the perfect faucet. It matched the style my family wanted and had a big enough mounting service to cover the discoloration. I also picked up some hoses. I installed the new faucet without leaks, got my much-needed shower, and headed across town in time for my 9:00 AM meeting.

What does any of this have to do with technology leadership?

I work professionally as a technology leader in a big corporation. Even though I’ve been at this for nearly 20 years, I still often find myself in unfamiliar and unpleasant circumstances. My work is nothing like plumbing, but I noticed that I take a similar approach.

• Just because a job is unpleasant, doesn’t mean I should outsource it. I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty, and I am I’m not afraid to make some mistakes. I accept that as part of the learning process.
• I iterated fast. I tried five different solutions in five hours. I couldn’t accurately determine the viability of any solution by looking at a store display. I needed to bring it home and see how it fit.
• I couldn’t know all the problems up-front. I couldn’t know about the vanity discoloration, size constraints, or faulty hoses until I dug into it. Had I committed to a solution up-front and outsourced the installation labor, I would have been disappointed in the outcome.
• The customer is king. Had the original hoses worked, I would have called the job done without the satisfaction of my family. Since my solution failed and I knew I needed to take one more trip to the hardware store, that gave me the opportunity to adjust to my family’s input and make it right.
• Customer requirements don’t always come up-front. They come in the middle and sometimes at the end. It’s never too late to change your plans to delight your customer.
• Defeat is temporary. At home and at work, I often feel like a complete failure. In the moment, it is always devastating, but I’ve also learned that it never lasts. Victory is just around the corner.

Those are my leadership lessons from iterative plumbing. Laugh at my frustrating experience and reflect on how it applies to your work and life. We all face similar challenges and need to adapt accordingly.