When Bali Dreams Meet a Screaming UPS

Living in Bali has its perks: tropical mornings, lush gardens, warm weather, and a pace of life that encourages you to breathe a little deeper.

But every now and then, paradise delivers a very practical reminder that life still happens — usually before coffee.

My day began with no water.

My immediate response was to deploy my most reliable technical strategy: turn things off, then turn them back on again.

It didn’t work.

Not long after, the UPS powering our internet decided it had its own opinion about the situation. It began screaming loudly enough to ensure that everyone in the house, neighbouring properties, and possibly the entire island knew there was a problem.

No water. No internet. A screaming UPS.

Not exactly the peaceful Bali morning I had imagined.

Then Pak Pumpman arrived — the pump repairman, and a very welcome sight at that point. His diagnosis was simple: the water pump needed replacing.

Unfortunately, replacing the pump meant turning off the power.

And when the power went off, the UPS completely lost the plot.

What followed was a lesson in teamwork, communication, and trying to stay calm while technology loudly objects to your plans.

Nick was in Melbourne, providing technical guidance through WhatsApp. I was on the ground, attempting to relay instructions. Ricky — our live-in garden, driving, and general-repairs legend — was up a ladder, practically inside the cabinet with the screaming UPS.

The audio kept dropping out between Nick and me, which made the whole process considerably more exciting.

There were a few frantic moments involving instructions such as:

“No! Not that one. The other one!”

At one point, both Nick and Ricky were understandably unclear about which one of them I was yelling at.

To Nick’s credit, he stayed with it. Calling it patience may be generous; it was probably more a carefully managed level of frustration that still allowed him to help solve the problem from another country.

Eventually, though, it all came together.

The new pump was installed.

The water returned.

The UPS stopped screaming.

The internet came back online.

And I finally got to have a shower.

The Leadership Lesson in the Chaos

It is easy to think leadership is about having all the answers. Knowing what button to press, what process to follow, or how to solve the technical issue yourself.

But often, it is not.

Sometimes leadership is simply helping the right people communicate clearly enough to solve a problem together.

In this case, I was not the technical expert. My contribution was mostly standing in the middle, passing on instructions, trying to keep everyone aligned, and occasionally yelling at the wrong person.

But the problem was still solved because everyone brought something different:

Nick brought remote technical knowledge and persistence.

Ricky brought practical, hands-on problem-solving.

Pak Pumpman brought the expertise to diagnose and replace the pump.

I brought… enthusiasm, urgency, and a surprisingly loud voice.

It was chaotic, imperfect, and occasionally frustrating. But it worked.

That is what good teams do. They do not require every person to be an expert in every area. They rely on different strengths, communicate through the confusion, and keep moving until the issue is resolved.

Even when the person in the middle is mostly contributing volume.

The Takeaway

My technical skills remain firmly based in the “turn it off and on again” school of troubleshooting.

But I was reminded that you do not always need to be the person with the answers. You need to know who to call, how to bring people together, and when to step back so the experts can do what they do best.

A good team can get you through most things — failed pumps, unreliable internet, screaming UPS units, and the occasional chaotic morning in paradise.

Now the only remaining decision is whether the situation calls for coffee, whiskey, or both.