The Joy in Business

3 Salt the Hay, Find a Way!

• Q. Have you ever felt stuck? Ever have a hard time getting something accomplished or solving a problem?
• A. You may just need to add a dash of salt. . .

Salt the hay and find a way is a Baldridge family motto.

My father used to use an expression you have probably heard before: You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t…. What? Make him drink. Dad would say, “You know what you can do?” and I would say, “There is no ‘can do’ to that.”

He would say, “You can salt the hay…. What happens when you salt the hay? If you salt the hay, the horse will get thirsty and drink.” Salting the hay is finding a way. There’s always a way.

He would say, “Behind every two can’ts there’s a can. It’s just that most people never find it because the first can’t stops them and they say, ‘I tried.’ And if they make it through that, the second can’t stops them because they say, ‘I tried again.’ What is better is to say, ‘If I can’t do this, and I can’t do that, then what can I do?’” This formula unblocks the thought process.

If you remember that behind every two can’ts is a can, you will discover that there usually is one. While working in the Cayman Islands, I was excited to hear the Honourable Deputy Governor and Head of the Civil Service, Franz Manderson (pictured with BOB and me in chapter 2) after attending one of my seminars say that he “salts the hay” in his government cabinet meetings. Upon hearing this, I sent him a large salt shaker to take with him to help emphasize ...