Up to this point, in the 40 plus articles I've witten for stone industry publications, I've never plagiarized another author's great works. For one thing it would be pointless, since submitting an unusually well-spelled article would immediately arouse the suspicions of the Slippery Rock editors and I would likely be found out before it ever made it to print! Moreover, the editors would then have the perfect excuse to fire me and that's a risk I haven't been willing to take.

Until now... Sitting here, minutes before an already extended deadline with a hideous case of writer's block, the thought of taking the easy way out has a strange and growing appeal.

The "easy way out"...

Is there such a thing? The more I ponder that question, the more I am intrigued by the answer. The answer is yes, if temporary relief from current discomforts is the only goal.

But if honor, respect, and the satisfaction from achieving something difficult is the objective, a different path, the rockier, more dangerous path seems to be the only way.

Take difficult clients for example. Those impossible people with unreasonable expectations can make life hell for the fabricator who simply wants to get paid for fulfilling his end of the bargain. It might be easier to tell a customer to go pound sand and walk away when every fiber of our being is screaming that we'd be justified in doing so. But, the lost referrals, negative comments on Angie's List, and expensive, time-consuming litigation would eventually come back to haunt us. Fixing it or replacing it with a smile on our face in painful, but mandatory if an enduring reputation is the goal.

How about the problems within our own operations? When critical tasks are performed wrong or at the wrong time, when costly mistakes are made and deadlines are missed, it's not only easy, it is natural to seek a scapegoat and accuse them of negligence. While this momentarily absolves us from responsibility, it does nothing to keep it from happening again. Blaming is easy, managing effectively is not. As grueling as it may be, it is only by assuming full responsibility for the results our teams produce and choosing daily to manage the work that we can hope to build lasting businesses.

And after three years in a brutal recession, giving in to the voice telling us there is no shame in throwing in the towel when the economic climate is so rough, may seem like blessed relief from the grind of pricing pressure and an easy way out of those relentless financial obligations. But to give up now, when the end is probably closer than we realize would be a tragedy of epic proportions. The companies that push on and emerge battered but unbeaten will not only recoup what they've lost in the battle, but relish in the fact that they survived the "Great 21st Century Recession!"

So as we begin yet another year in our chosen work, let us remember that there is no peace in giving up and no honor in taking the easy way out. And let us also remember that while this work may not be easy, it's what many of us were born to do!

Aaron J. Crowley is the founder and president of FabricatorsFriend.com, the exclusive promoter of Stone Sleeve fabricator sleeves and Bullet Proof aprons.

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