It all started with the town leaders who responded to complaints from citizens. Sadly, their temporary solution became a permanent problem.
For over 100 years, Centralia Pennsylvania was a bustling coal-mining town. In 1962, some 1,200 people called Centralia home. Just about everyone living in Centralia either worked in the coal mine or a business that supported the families of miners.
The Temporary Solution
As any city planner knows, 1,200 people produce a lot of garbage, and it all has to go somewhere. So, the city fathers took advantage of a big hole in the ground left from a long-abandoned coal mine.
This, they thought, will make a perfect landfill! And it was. For a while.
But all that garbage smelled, and it started attracting many rats.
The townsfolks complained to the town’s leaders who decided a quick solution to both the smell and the rats would be to set fire to the landfill. Burning the refuse seemed like the perfect solution!
The Permanent Problem
Unfortunately, the idea of starting a fire in a landfill, atop an abandoned coal mine, raised no red flags.
Sure enough, as the landfill fire grew, it found its way underground into a mine shaft, and from there it ignited a vein of coal on fire.
It didn’t take long before residents noticed smoke coming out of the ground. The coal fire spread from the landfill along the abandoned mine shafts into veins of coal all around the town.
It turns out, putting out a coal fire underground is nearly impossible. Firefighters made a few attempts to put out the fire, but they were unsuccessful.
That was 1962. Here we are almost 60 years later, and the Centralia coal fire is still burning.
The townspeople had to abandon their town decades ago. The ground underneath them and all around them is literally on fire.
A temporary solution became a permanent problem.
The Danger of Expediency
Using the abandoned mine pit for a landfill was expedient. Why not fill up a big hole in the ground with the town’s garbage?
Nothing really, except for the expedient solution of an open landfill causing a secondary problem of noxious odors and rats.
To deal with the secondary problem caused by the first expedient solution, they burned the refuse in the landfill.
Again, burning off the refuse seemed like a reasonable, expedient solution to the current problem.
Except that no one anticipated the fire spreading underground. Certainly, no one thought the fire in the landfill would reach all that coal underneath their town!
The Law of Unintended Consequences
The danger of an expedient solution is no one considers the law of intended consequences when making a decision.
The unintended consequence of an open landfill was noxious odors and a teeming rat population. The unintended consequence of the landfill fire was the fire spreading, making the town unlivable.
So, the entire town was wiped out, and millions of dollars’ worth of high-quality coal are burning away underground all because someone chose an expedient solution and ignored the law of unintended consequences.
The wise King Solomon wrote,
“Without guidance, people fall, but with many counselors, there is deliverance” (Proverbs 11:14 (HCSB)
No one is so smart they cannot benefit from the advice of wise counselors.
I’ve seen many groups of leaders over the years, smart men and women, who suffer from groupthink. They think alike and confirm each other’s opinions. They don’t seek the advice of outside counselors. The result of groupthink is often expedient solutions that simply ignore the law of unintended consequences.
And that, my friends, is exactly how a temporary solution becomes a permanent problem!
More Articles
I have written other articles on problem-solving. You can find them by typing “problem-solving” in the search bar. In the meantime, here are two of my favorites.
- #103: How to Fail as a Problem Solver and as a Leader
- #122: Expect Opposition When Attempting to Accomplish Something Great
Join the Conversation
As always, questions and comments are welcome. Have you ever been in a situation where a temporary solution became a permanent problem?
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Category: Skills | Problem Solving
I’ve seen many times in Government work when leaders chose expedient solutions that didn’t last long, only to be readdressed later. Much time and energy is aces when we do things the right way the first time!
Yes, I bet you have John!! My limited exposure to local government agencies over the years aligns with your experience. There is a tendency to choose the expedient solution over the best solution.