“Do what you have always done and you’ll get what you have always got.” –Sue Knight
One of the best things in life is that it’s always changing. Whether it’s a new iPhone, a service we never thought we needed, or just the passing of the years, every day brings something new and challenges our status quo for how things are.
One of the most difficult things about building and running an animal rescue software platform like Doobert is making the functionality easy and intuitive to understand and use by a wide variety of users from a myriad of backgrounds. I am often more challenged by how to explain the powerful features and life-saving technology behind Doobert, then I am to actually come up with the concepts and program them. And considering that one of the biggest challenges that I have is to get animal rescue organizations and volunteers to understand and utilize Doobert, if the interface is not intuitive, they often leave, never to come back and they go back to their old ways of doing things often to the detriment of the animals.
Sometimes we spend our time and energy looking for the perfect solution instead of considering the tools and options that we have right in front of us. We have a vision in our heads’ of how something should work and when we encounter things that do not fit the mold, we pass on them and move onto the next. Things that are right in front of our eyes do not get a passing glance given the lens by which we are evaluating them.
I have been told by local animal shelters across the country that rescue relay transport is not an efficient way to transport animals yet the hundreds of volunteers that participate in rescue transport every week continue to do it and make an impact on the lives of animals. I receive random inquiries from people and organizations across the country trying to find a pilot to fly a dog who scoff at the idea that ground transport could achieve the same objective albeit with a little more planning and coordination.
We often look for perfection to the detriment of progress. Sometimes good enough is GOOD ENOUGH. Sure that technology or service may not be exactly what we are looking for but does it solve the problem? Maybe that animal adopter or foster home doesn’t meet all of the criteria we normally look for but do they love animals and want to help provide a good home?
Consider how you apply progress instead of focusing on perfection. You’ll often find that the solutions you may have overlooked can take your animal rescue activities in a new direction you never thought possible.
