Maybe you should go fishing

Gene Mage

Every spring I go through the same ritual. I pull out the rods and reels, inventory tackle, load fresh line and restock my supply of chartreuse grubs. After renewing my license I am ready to head up to the lake. As I make the drive, the memories begin to flow as I recall choice moments deep-sea fishing for blue fish on Cape Cod bay, hikes through Rocky Mountain National Park in search of cutthroat trout, and the relationships that grew during those times.

When my kids began fishing with me I began to remember the times I spent with my father fishing for catfish on the Potomac River. No fancy equipment was required. All you needed was your trusty Zebco rod and reel combo, a sinker, a hook, and a well-aged hotdog.

But a few years ago fishing at the lake got more complicated. First came the fish finder. For the first few weeks we were filled with excitement whenever we heard the “beep…beep…beep” and saw the little fish image dance across the LCD screen. Soon excitement gave way to frustration, and then rationalization, when we were less than effective converting “beeps” into actual fish. Before long the fish finder was left behind. It was too embarrassing to admit that the reason we were not catching fish was our lack of fishing skills. It was much easier to blame the fish finder. It was probably inaccurate, picking up floating debris or straying turtles.

One year, during an extended period of poor weather, I decided to fabricate a downrigger for trout-fishing out of surplus parts available in the boathouse. A fifty year-old tractor axle made an excellent weight. When the weather cleared it took only forty-five minutes to catch a nice sized rainbow trout. The following year we bought the “real” equipment and got skunked.

Over time I began to develop a system for getting fish more consistently. My system did not involve high technology. I just began to take mental notes on what worked, and what didn’t work, and adjusted along the way. For one thing, I always use sharp hooks. I also forego treble hooks for single ones, since fish rarely “throw” a single hook once set. But mostly, I learned the lake geography. I know where to go to catch bass, pike, or whopper yellow perch. I also realized that the more casts I made the more fish I caught. Time spent working on equipment and complaining about the wind conditions never added to the catch.

I think I need to spend more time fishing. In the world of business I sometimes forget the basics. Memories of great catches fade quickly, those of the relationships endure. No amount of technology can replace good old resourcefulness. And there’s no substitute for making calls – lots of them.

And when the fish are not biting, I would do well to spend less time blaming the market research or the bad business climate, and more time studying the fish. A little more practice keeps the hooks sharp.

Maybe you need to take some time out on the water. Sometimes the answers are not behind the screen of your laptop. Sometimes the answers are just below the surface out past your neighbor’s dock or around the next point.

As the summer months come around I encourage you to find refreshing counterpoints to the daily grind. You cannot gain perspective on a problem by standing in the middle of it. Perspective only comes from standing back and taking a different point of view.

The word recreation has been watered down to mean “mindless fun”. Recreation means “re-creation”. In those times of relaxation we re-create and refresh our mindset. We reenergize our bodies and spirits. And in doing so, we make our work time so much more productive. The business world awards no points for going crazy.