Moving Your Barn

In 1988 a small town in Nebraska celebrated its centennial with an old fashioned barn....moving.  A pair of farmers in Bruno, Nebraska had a dilemma.  They had a barn that needed to be moved because it was routinely under water.  They didn't want to have to pay to have it moved, but it clearly needed to move.

Creativity kicked in and they hatched a plan to move it the 150 feet needed to be safe again.  They estimated the weight to be 17,000 pounds. Using a lot of steel pipe, they assembled a series of handles and supports inside and outside the barn.  They recruited 344 volunteers in town from the centennial celebration to surround the barn and grab a handle.  With 4,000 onlookers and a coach giving clear and encouraging instructions, the team picked the structure up with ease and relocated it to its new location.

The farmers had a vision, they communicated in a way to inspire a town to participate, they empowered the group and removed the obstacles, and they took action.  The end result was the accomplishment of task that probably sounded a little crazy to start with until they communicated the plan.

We all have barns to move...Do you have a vision of where it needs to go?  Have you shared the vision with people who can help?  Have you communicated the plan in such a way that people want to be a part of the success?  Have you removed the obstacles?  Have you called for action?

If your barn isn't ready to move it might be time to revisit the farmer's steps.