An interview of Peter B. Vaill conducted by Kerry A. Bunker and Laura Curnutt Santana is included in Extraordinary Leadership: Addressing the Gaps in Senior Executive Development published by Jossey-Bass (2010). Here is a brief excerpt:

“By ‘permanent white water,’ I mean events with five characteristics. First, they arrive as surprises. Second, they frequently have novel comonents and character. Third, they don’t fit neatly into any capability the organization already possesses. Fourth, although they are frequently so weird and bizarre to be amusing, they cannot be brushed aside but must be dealt with. And fifth, while conceivably any one of these events can be anticipated, what cannot be planned for is the continual occurrence of further surprising, novel, ill-structured, and obtrusive events. This fifth characteristic makes permanent white water a descriptor of the overall system over which a managerial leader is in charge or facilitates. As that famous philosopher human condition, Roseanne Roseannadanna, used to say on Saturday Night Live, ‘It just goes to show ya, it’s always something.’”

When asked why it is especially important to develop one’s spirituality in the context of permanent white water, Vaill responds, “Because, fundamentally, permanent white water is an assault on the values one holds dear. We need a spirituality that is robust enough to handle such assaults and not evaporate on us at the first sign of trouble. Victor Frankl’s study of survival in the Nazi death camps showed that survivors tended to have some kind of spirituality that helped them through the horror.”

Note: The study to which Vaill refers was published as Man’s Search for Meaning, Part One: Experiences in a Concentration Camp. Here is a brief excerpt within which Frankl shares one of his conclusions. “If a prisoner felt that he could no longer endure the realities of camp life, he found a way out in his mental life– an invaluable opportunity to dwell in the spiritual domain, the one that the SS were unable to destroy. Spiritual life strengthened the prisoner, helped him adapt, and thereby improved his chances of survival.”

Vaill continues:

“So these white-water events are novel, they’re surprising, they don’t fit into neat categories, they force themselves on your attention, and they will always arrive in some form or another. They take up enormous amounts of your time. Leaders may spend the whole day fighting fires and then feel like they haven’t accomplished a darn thing.”

* * *

I presume to add two points:

1. Covey was right: Focus on what’s important, not on what’s urgent.
2. Most “fires” are caused by human beings and thus are preventable.

Peter B. Vaill is emeritus professor of management and a senior scholar in the Ph.D. program in leadership and management at Antioch College. He earned M.B.A. and D.B.A. degrees from Harvard University and his published books include Managing as a Performing Art, Learning as a Way of Being, and Spirited Leading and Learning.