Bad Eggs Wreak Havoc

We have been excited the last few weeks watching a mallard hen nesting in our front yard rose bush. She has three eggs but we have not seen her on the nest in over a week. So this afternoon, we are checking one final time to confirm she has abandoned her nest. We were looking forward to seeing the little ducklings make their way back to the lake but it does not appear it will happen this year.

Dropping to my knees, I can see we have no nesting hen. The eggs must be bad as she has abandoned them. CeCe says, “Let’s throw them in the woods so our front yard will not smell like rotten eggs.”

Reaching into the rose bush, here is the first one, now the second. POW! I jump back and see CeCe react also. One of the duck eggs exploded and immediately my nostrils fill up with a horrific, raunchy smell. Gagging, I reach down and grab the last egg knowing I’ve got to move fast. I run into the house and grab a bag to carry them in. CeCe is laughing at me, which isn’t helping. I sling the eggs as far as I can into the woods and grab the water hose to wash down the remains of the busted egg but I can still smell it as I walk into the house.

How can rotten eggs help us #beBetter? Unfortunately, we have rotten eggs of different types in our organizations. It can be an initiative that’s not working, a team member who is playing games or has destructive behavior. A manager who is underperforming or disrespecting team members. Or a segment of business that is simply not growing. Surely, you have seen the software investment that doesn’t come close to meeting your needs.

We all get bad eggs in our front yard. I knew the duck eggs were bad long before I took action. The result was not pretty and it smelled much worse than you can imagine.

It’s the same in our businesses and personal lives. When we have a bad egg and let it sit, the clean-up will always be harder. And when it comes to company culture, every egg counts. Let’s identify our bad eggs and deal with them before they explode on us.

Now for the rest of the story (it gets worse), we’ll save that for next week.