The Power of Sharper Frames

Previously, I shared lessons from the failed French attempt to build the Panama Canal. In this article: how the Americans nearly repeated those mistakes and what finally turned things around.

President Theodore Roosevelt was enthusiastic about what a canal could do for America’s growth. "Let the dirt fly!" was his mantra, and he made sure everyone he appointed understood what was at stake.

Unfortunately, his first Chief Engineer, John Wallace, took those words as literal marching orders. He immediately directed personnel and equipment to resume excavation at the point where the French had left off, using the same sea-level approach that had already failed. 

Same plan. Same results.

To make matters worse, Wallace, like Ferdinand de Lesseps before him, didn't appreciate the devastating effects that malaria and yellow fever had on manpower and morale. After a year of frustration and little progress, he resigned.

His successor, John Stevens, a railroad expert, took a completely different approach. Stevens focused on two critical areas. First, he provided the resources Dr. William Gorgas and the medical team needed to implement their protocols for preventing malaria and yellow fever. These methods were controversial at the time, but Stevens backed them fully. He also built proper housing for the workforce, which at its peak numbered approximately 45,000.

Second, Stevens recognized they had been solving the wrong problem. The issue wasn't digging—it was moving the excavated soil and rock. The men and machines were severely constrained by transportation capacity. Drawing on his experience building railroads in the American West, Stevens radically redesigned the infrastructure for moving dirt, removing the most prominent bottleneck that had crippled progress.

Combined with developing a definitive project plan for what needed to be done, where, when, and by whom, Stevens quite literally got the building of the Panama Canal back on track. The canal was eventually completed in 1914 by his successor, Col. George Goethals of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

So what are the lessons for modern-day innovation leaders?

(1) Be intentional about removing barriers before demanding results.

This brings to mind the quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." Stevens sharpened the axe by addressing disease, housing, morale, and infrastructure before pushing for output.

(2) Make sure you're solving the right problem.

This is why reframing is such a critical part of Design Thinking. De Lesseps and Wallace thought the problem was digging a canal. Stevens realized the problem was moving dirt. There's nothing like investing time, money, and energy into building a great bridge only to discover it's over the wrong river.

Or that you didn’t need a bridge.

Or that crossing a river was never required to reach the goal.

What barriers might your team be facing that you haven't fully addressed? What problem are you solving that might need reframing?