Who knew two months later I’d be writing about a toilet again. On Sep 26th I went into my basement to find a sewage flood had occurred in the laundry room sometime that weekend. Unfortunately it had seeped into the carpeting the prior homeowners had installed in the adjacent basement living room. The same carpeting with asbestos tiles underneath I was planning to remediate down the road. So much for that plan.
As change agents we’re frequently making plans, whether it’s a plan for how to manage a change / continuous improvement in an organization, or a plan for something in our personal life. Undoubtedly something ends up going awry at some point with the plan.
Sometimes it’s a small interruption that simply ends up being a pebble along the way. And other times, it’s quite the storm that shows up and completely blows away the plan like my sewage flood. The question is, how well do you weather these storms? Read on to see what my sewage flood “storm" has entailed and reflect on how well would you have handled this storm?
The below is just some of what I’ve experienced with my sewage flood “storm” in the last three weeks:
Washing sewage soaked laundry from 11pm Sunday night straight to 11am Monday morning as the flood had wicked up all my hampers and bags of clothes in the room. I can’t even remember the last time I pulled an all nighter like that.
Bottom two feet of the laundry room walls being cut open, removed, and treated to prevent mold
Finding the prior homeowners had glued the carpet padding in the living room basement to the asbestos tiles (insert palm to forehead)
The first water remediation company breaking some asbestos tiles, with industrial fans going and my belongings in the room, without even realizing the impact of what they had done
I had been told my belongings would be moved out of the room before the carpeting was removed; clearly that never happened
Hiring a separate asbestos tester than the one the water remediation company had hired, to test my belongings and air in the basement to ensure they were safe and free of asbestos
After receiving the test results it was safe to enter the basement, finding:
One of the laundry room walls was still wet 2.5 weeks later (i.e. first water remediation company never properly dried out the room)
The company had done some additional damage when cutting into the laundry room walls
Hiring a second water remediation company to properly finish drying the laundry room as no way was the first company going to be allowed back in my house
Those closest to me have been watching this storm unfold and are flabbergasted at how much has gone awry as there’s even more than the above. Has this “storm" been a disruption in my life? Absolutely! And, it’s also created a path to a healthier home. I’m guessing some are reading this and thinking, “how the heck could a sewage flood lead to a healthier home?!?”
Here’s how, it cleared the way for:
The removal of the asbestos tiles in the basement living room to happen much sooner than I had been planning
Proper flooring that can’t mold to be put in the finished basement living room that has a moisture problem, and the removal of the carpet that can mold
Insurance to cover this extensive renovation because of the flood
Has there been some tears, frustration, and anger along the way? Absolutely, and:
I made it 24 hours before any tears came, and when they did come, they were more about grieving the loss of the below than anything else, and they were short lived
Safety of my home
Time for my business
Loss of sleep for myself
I have yet to consume any alcohol during this storm as I never felt the desire to; support, sleep, enough food, staying hydrated, and eventually rest is what I was focused on
The frustration and anger were short lived and used as fuel to address the things that went awry as I know staying in anger typically never helps the situation
I feel mostly at peace now with the situation
Reflecting on the above:
Had this storm happened to you, how well would you have handled it?
How well have you weathered storms in your life?
What if you knew you could handle any storm life throws at you?
Call to Action
Unhappy with how you’ve been weathering the storms of life? Reach out to Rosanne for help so you can be more calm and effective in handling them.
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About the Author: Rosanne Essiambre helps change agents and departments in one-on-one and group settings to be seen, be heard, and be effective in bringing about change in the organization and/or in their personal lives. She provides consulting and facilitation to organizations to improve communications and collaboration, smooth out the change / transformation journey, get to the root cause of an issue so it can be solved for good, improve processes, and implement successful lessons learned. And she conducts workshops, trains, and speaks on Energy Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Resilience, Being a Change Agent and more. If you or your organization could use support with your change effort or some inspiration, contact Rosanne for a complimentary consultation. Rosanne is a Change Agent Coach, Facilitator, Six Sigma Black Belt, Change Management / Continuous Improvement Consultant, Speaker, and Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner with more than 20 years experience working on a variety of transformations across a diverse set of industries both domestically and internationally, while continuously improving herself.