Avoiding Excuses

Marketing/Entrepreneurship/Business maven Seth Godin has another great blog posting today entitled "Looking for the Right Excuse".

In the post, Godin talks about a common problem among people to seek excuses for why things didn't work out -- and often the list of reasons excuses is started even before the particular project has started. Godin, of course, has an alternative:

Here's an alternative to the excuse-driven life: What happens if you relentlessly avoid looking for excuses at all?

Instead of seeking excuses, the successful project is filled with people who are obsessed with avoiding excuses. If you relentlessly work to avoid opportunities to use your ability to blame, you may never actually need to blame anyone.

I can't help but think this is part of what has made many involved in the No Kill movement so successful.  It has become really easy to create excuses as to why we fail at saving the lives of healthy and treatable dogs and cats.  The public is irresponsible. We don't have enough volunteers. There are too many animals and not enough homes. Our shelter is inadequate. We don't have enough money.

No doubt nearly every shelter in the country struggles with all of these things.

But what happens if we change our obsession with the excuses to making the obsession about not needing them?

What if we create more reasons for people to adopt? What if we create more opportunities for people to volunteer?  What if we are more creative in our fundraising and adoption events? 

In talking with Bonnie Brown, and Nathan Winograd, and many folks from Austin, and Suzanne Kogut, and Mitch Schneider -- there is little doubt in my mind that a big part of their success has been deciding not to focus on excuses -- but to become obsessed with no longer needing the excuses.

Looking for excuses is in some ways very human....but success will come when we cast that aside and decide not to make excuses any more.

Comments

[selkie]

you are SO right - what a perfect comment on why so many fail - we all need to do what you say and make NO more excuses

[PetDocsOnCall09]

Bravo! When we stop looking for excuses and spending our time worrying about potential problems, we can actually accomplish quite a bit.

I used to experience the same thing in the veterinary hospitals...employees would create excuses for why a new protocol wouldn't work before even trying it.

Thanks Brent!

[greta]

Could you offer clarification on what constitutes an "excuse" If you are discussing why No Kill turns away animals, or leaves them in the field I can address that for you.

[greta]

We have exchanged comments before Brent, don't be shy. My query is legitimate. The shelters that elect to follow best practices will not put their city in peril by overcrowding. Washoe County is not a No Kill community, nor were we No Kill as a community in SF. One No Kill shelter does not a community make.

[Social Mange]

Great post, and thank you for introducing me to Seth Godin.

[Brent]

Thanks (almost) all.

Greta, your comment is, of course, ironic, because you instantly go to place blame elsewhere (in your case, apparently, the no kill movement).

And no, your query isn't legitimate, because it isn't really a query, but merely an attempt to try to throw flames at the No Kill Movement by making unsubstantiated claims of overcrowding.

You know, if you want to have a conversation, lets. But if your only goal is to just try to throw stones and blame others, then don't bother.

[Tanger's]

I'm not seeing any flame Throwing. I do see the excuses that many no kill shelters use to turn away animals. Examples at one shelter. We can't take the dog because:
it's not fixed.
it bit previously.
it looks like it might bite.
it has health issues.
it doesn't get along with other dogs.
it failed our temperment test.
we have to many of that breed already.
we are at capacity check back.
you didn't make an appointment to surrender.
The excuses made to turn away an animal are endless. You talk about other people making excuses, what's no kill excuse for turning away aniamls?

[Brent]

Tanger, there is no doubt that there are some shelters that in the name of "no kill" are bastardizing the process -- there is a difference between those shelters and the movement as a whole.

It's interesting though that this post is exactly about finding solutions so you don't have to lay blame -- and yet, you and Greta are here just trying to lay blame. Seems ironic for sure -- and pretty typical of the majority of the people I've met (online and in person) who strongly oppose no kill.

[MichelleD]

I do see how some people are getting burnt out on the "no kill" movement when they're on the receiving end of the fallout. There are many no kill shelters getting away sucking up more than their fair share of resources, cherry picking animals, while casting stones at the kill shelters when the "no kill" shelters could be doing more to save them. Again, that is the fault of the individual shelter - no the No Kill Solution.

Case in point: Wayside Waifs (4 mill budget) pulled 20-30 highly adoptable animals from KCMO shelter but NOT ONE single animal on the kill list.

How about we can come up with a new name for them - like "Faux Kill" shelters.

[kdl]

MichelleD- I talked to a volunteer for KCMO who helped show the animals to WW when they came in to cherry pick, right after the pull. According to her, WW stated "no pit bulls" right when they arrived- this was the 2nd day they came out, to grab a few more animals. This time they left the media circus behind. While walking through the aisles, they expressed interest in only a few dogs. One of those dogs was Julius, who was battling a resp infection. WW asked to have his temp taken- it was around 104. Because Julius had a fever, they left him there, and ended up pulling a dog who was part of a bonded pair from a cruelty seizure. These 2 dogs shared a kennel, and they took ONE of them to "rescue", and left the dog in need of medical attention. Some rescue effort, huh?

A staff member was able to make a call to get the dog from the bonded pair who WW left behind into the program the next day. I have never seen the animals WW pulled offered on their pet tango site. I wonder how many they killed after the camera crews pulled away.....