Crochet hooks

Today's post is another installment in my leadership commitments series. Question of the day is:
When I fall down, how do I pick myself back up?

My answer:
With the magic of crochet hooks.

Let me back up a moment. I’m a knitter. Choosing to be a knitter is a bit like choosing to be a parent. It's a club that nearly anyone can join, but that few non-members understand. A desire to participate seems crazy to outsiders, but is pretty wonderful (if at times incredibly frustrating!) for insiders.

Some people say that knitting is tying yarn into knots. But knots have a tendency to stay closed, fixed and knitting isn’t like that. It’s this continuous series of loops that hold together just right. There’s a certain alchemy in the way two sticks and a bunch of string can be manipulated into so many different forms and uses. Most projects, even a big blanket, are held together with only two knots. If knitting is cared for, it can last for generations. But if you undo one of those two knots, or if you cut into the middle of it somewhere, all those loops will let go of each other. The entire thing will unravel and all you’ll be left with is a pile of string.

What does this have to do with leadership?

Think of the knitting as your work or your career. As you knit along, there are a bunch of loops hanging on your needle. Your goal is to keep the loops on the needle and the project moving forward. You do your best to take care of them all, but even when you take a lot of care, sometimes one of the loops will slip off the needle. If you ignore the problem and keep on knitting without addressing the dropped loop, it will begin to unravel the work. You might not notice immediately and you’ll plow forward, knitting away. But behind you a hole is forming. A hole that can only grow, that is at risk of reducing your work to a pile of string instead of the sweater you worked months to make.

Knitters learn very quickly that a dropped loop cannot be ignored. Wise knitters don’t panic at impending disaster. Instead, they take action. They pull out their secret weapon for fixing dropped loops: a crochet hook. The humble crochet hook has this amazing ability to reach into the middle of your project and put a long forgotten loop back where it belongs. An experienced knitter can deftly dance the hook through layers of knitting to restore the pattern and erase any trace of error as if it never happened. Loops lined up neatly on the needle, ready to press forward again.

I strive to be the wise knitter. To remember that if I can just take action to correct it, with a dose of work and a dash of patience, I can erase even the worst errors. I can put the loops back onto the needle and keep on knitting.

Equally, I strive to be a wise leader. To remember that I can just take action to correct it, with a dose of work and a dash of patience, I can erase even the worst errors. I can put the project back on the rails and keep going.

Both in knitting and in life, my work doesn’t have to be perfect. I appreciate the small imperfections that show that it’s hand-made-with-love. But neither will I ignore the mistakes that are going to be damaging long term. They don’t have to be disasters. They just need attention. And a crochet hook.