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The day WhatsApp dies...
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There are two kinds of people. The complainers. And the people who have no time to complain. A few years ago, I became one of the founders of a start-up in Panama. Camarounds. Think of it as an Uber for services. Electricians. Technicians. Bricklayers. Plumbers. Maintenance people. The kind of people you need when something breaks and suddenly your life becomes a small Latin American tragedy. Yes. I like exploring. I like investing. I like trying things. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it punches you in the face. Anyway. One day, WhatsApp went down. Globally. Totally down. No messages. No six-minute voice notes from your aunt. No stupid GIFs. No “bro, quick question” followed by 17 paragraphs. Nothing. I remember that day very well for two reasons. First, my inbox and Teams exploded with people complaining that WhatsApp was down. Second, Camarounds exploded with messages. But not service requests. Not customers. Not revenue. Just messages. “WhatsApp is down.” “Use Telegram.” “Download Signal.” “Can you call me?” “Don’t forget to buy milk.” The world did not stop. Only the complainers did. The useful people just moved. They used whatever was available. Email. Teams. SMS. Phone calls. Telegram. Smoke signals, probably. They didn’t hold a strategy workshop to discuss the emotional impact of WhatsApp disappearing. They didn’t spend the afternoon refreshing the app like addicts waiting for a miracle. They adapted. Fast. No drama. No excuses. No TED Talk. Just movement. And that is life. Project management is exactly the same. Something breaks. The internet goes down. The data room fails. The contractor misses a date. The client changes their mind. The model crashes. The report is wrong. The approval is delayed. Half the room starts complaining. The other half starts solving. Some people go to the kitchen because “there is nothing we can do.” Others open their laptop, find another route, call whoever needs to be called, and keep the machine moving. That difference matters. A lot. Because infrastructure does not reward the person with the best complaint. It rewards the person who can stay useful when things stop working. The first group will never get into The Room. The second group has a chance. ​The Room​ PD 1: If you liked this email, don't keep it in secret and forward it to a friend. They will thank you enormously one day. PD 2: If somebody has sent you this email and you want to receive emails like this yourself, visit vicentevalencia.com PD 3: If you want unsubscribe, click the link below. |
Vicente Valencia
Weekly insights on how to perform when it matters | High-stakes decisions. Real situations. No BS. | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
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