“Go with the flow.”

A thought by Zig Ziglar (2003-01-01) from his book, Zig Ziglar's Life Lifters (p. 59). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

I know that can be a bad thing to do sometimes but it also can be a good thing.

Zig tells us, “In the late 1940s when Dwight Eisenhower was president of Columbia University, one of the problems he faced was that students ignored sidewalks and trampled the grass. Ignoring the many ‘Keep Off the Grass’ signs, the students continued to take whatever route they found convenient as they hurried from one class to another. As a result, footpaths were worn along these routes. Many of the college officials wavered between anger, frustration, and genuine concern for the appearance of the campus. Eisenhower did not get to be the allied commander in chief during the war, and later President of the United States, without his ability to see things from both sides. He came up with a simple, sensible, workable solution: He told them to forget the signs and fences and install sidewalks where footpaths had been worn. Then they removed the unused sidewalks and planted flowers and grass. It worked. He ‘went with the flow,’ and results were pleasing to the administrators and to the students.”

Zig then says, “I firmly believe you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough people get what they want. Eisenhower helped the students get what they wanted, which was a fast, efficient route to their next class. Columbia University got what they wanted—a beautiful, neat, clean, well-organized campus.”

Our tendency is to be really frustrated with situations and get angry at people and then strive to drive them to do the right thing.  But maybe we need to go with the flow and strive to understand why they do what they are doing.  Maybe their way is better. 

How do you handle conflicts?