Important Things That Get Neglected

Some days ago I was walking with my wife along Malecón de Miraflores. Malecón de Miraflores is a waterfront promenade in the Miraflores district of Lima, Peru that stretches for about 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) and offers stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. It is also a popular spot for walking, jogging, and cycling, and is a great place to watch the sunset. The Malecón Cisneros is named after Antonio Cisneros, a Peruvian diplomat, writer, and journalist who served as the country’s minister of foreign affairs in the late 19th century.

Some years ago, the municipality did a great job improving the narrow parks along the malecón. One specific park was dedicated to Maria Reiche, the German-born Peruvian mathematician and archeologist better known for her fieldwork and research into the Nazca Lines. Part of the park decoration consists of representations of the Nazca lines’ figures like the Monkey. By night, the figures are lit and can be seen from the promenade.

The parks are very well maintained. The municipality has taken care that gardeners and other specialized personnel periodically work in the parks. However, no one seems responsible for the Nazca line's figures. Their maintenance, for whatever reason, was left out of the procedures. So, when some of the lights of the figures failed some months ago, nobody changed them. They have been burned out for months now.

When something isn’t part of our routine, or we haven’t defined how we will take care of it, we’ll probably end up neglecting it. Even if it’s important for us. (The same happens in organizations.)