CHAPTER 4 Culture of Performance
Except for one year.
We found the perfect tree after what must have been three or four
hours. After my dad cut it down, we started back in what we thought was
the direction of the van. We walked a long time, saw a lot of forest we
didn’t recognize, and realized that we were lost. My dad’s seemingly unfal-
lible sense of direction had failed him.
This, of course, made everyone kind of grumpy. My dad took pride in
his ability to find his way back, but it had failed him this time. My mother
wasn’t exactly thrilled about her five children being lost in the middle of a
snow-filled forest. And we kids weren’t the most patient bunch.
In my head, I had already decided that we certainly weren’t getting
out of the forest that night. Thinking my teenage self to be something of a
rugged outdoorsman, I started coming up with the contingency plan. We
could build a little shelter, start a fire with some rocks (they did it in the
movies — how hard could it be?) and find some food. It would be cold, but
we’d figure it out.
Thankfully for all of us, we never had to test my survival skills. When
the night was so dark we could see only a foot or so in front of us, we
finally stumbled on the road. From there, my dad was easily able to guide
us back to the car.
The next year, we planned better. We tied strings around trees as we
went, carried a compass, and frequently stopped to check our bearings.
Getting lost wasn’t something we felt like doing again. Instead of viewing
getting back to the van as something that just happened after everything
else was accomplished, we were going to be deliberate about making sure
our outing was a success.Getting Deliberate About Performance
This same sort of struggle is hurting our websites today. Websites are get-
ting fatter and fatter at an alarming rate. From March 2012 to March 2013,
the average page weight jumped by a staggering 24% according to data