Do you remember the TV show "MacGyver"? The titular hero was the epitome of resourcefulness. He would get trapped, usually in a building that contained a ticking time bomb, but he was able to free himself by being resourceful and using what was available to him, like duct tape or chewing gum. I was always intrigued -- and impressed.

I value resourcefulness highly in my employees. Resourceful people can figure things out on their own and find a way to make things work. They are able to use resources at their disposal to help them solve problems or overcome obstacles.

Resourcefulness seems to come naturally to some people. They aren't about to give up just because the odds are stacked heavily against them, even when it doesn't involve ticking bombs.

Consider what happened during the construction of the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge. In 1863, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea for this spectacular bridge. But bridge-building experts throughout the world told him to forget it. They said it could not be done.

Roebling convinced his son, Washington, also an engineer, that the bridge could be built. The two of them developed the concepts of how it could be accomplished. Remember, this occurred more than 150 years ago, without benefit of modern technology.

The project was only a few months into construction when an accident on the site resulted in the death of John Roebling. Shortly thereafter, Washington contracted the bends during underwater construction of the bridge's pillars and was partially paralyzed. Everyone assumed that the project would have to be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built.

Even though Washington was incapacitated, his mind was as sharp as ever, and he was determined to complete the bridge. As he lay in his bed, he taught his wife how to instruct the engineers who were building the bridge. For 13 years, Washington painstakingly oversaw construction from afar -- until the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge was finally completed. It still stands today, carrying more than 150,000 cars and pedestrians every day.

Resourceful people can see the upside of down times. They are not willing to give up just because things get complicated. And here's a news flash: They are not all geniuses. They just don't accept defeat easily.

This story should inspire you for the times when you are out of duct tape and chewing gum.

Once upon a time, a young donkey asked his grandpa, "How do I grow up to be just like you?"

"Oh, that's simple," the elder donkey said. "All you have to do is remember to shake it off and step up."

"What does that mean?" asked the youngster.

The grandfather replied, "Let me tell you a story: Once, when I was your age, I was out walking. I wasn't paying attention and fell deep into an old abandoned well. I started braying and braying. Finally, an old farmer came by and saw me. I was scared to death. But then he left. I stayed in that well all night.

"The next morning, he came back with a whole group of people, and they looked down at me. Then the old farmer said, 'The well is abandoned and that donkey isn't worth saving, so let's get to work.' And believe it or not, they started to shovel dirt into the well. I was going to be buried alive!

"After the first shovels of dirt came down on me, I realized something. Every time dirt landed on my back, I could shake it off and use it to step up a bit higher! They kept shoveling, and I kept shaking the dirt off and stepping up.

"'Shake it off and step up ... shake it off and step up ...' I kept repeating to myself for encouragement. And it wasn't long before I stepped out of the well, exhausted but triumphant."

So no matter how difficult the situation, no matter how bad things get, no matter how much dirt gets dumped on you, just remember -- shake it off and step up. You'll be all right.

Mackay's Moral: When you're out of resources, it's time to get resourceful.

Looking back on his extraordinary career of 35 years, NASCAR driving legend Richard Petty noted that during his first 20 years of racing, he had an excellent record of winning. For example, he won the Daytona 500 seven times!

However, in the late 1970s, his career went into a decline from which it never recovered. Other racing teams had gone high-tech, refining their cars with ever more sophisticated engineering, while the Petty team was complacent and set in its ways.

"We'd been winning steadily for 20 years and decided we wouldn't change," Petty said.

Petty, one of the greatest drivers in racing history, ended his career without a win in his last eight years.

Lesson learned: Resistance to change and complacency can defeat any person or organization, no matter how talented.

Success is sweet, but it can quickly sour if the ingredients aren't fresh.

I've seen plenty of businesses, large and small, rest on their laurels only to be lulled into a coma. On the one hand, it's tempting to go along with the tried and true -- if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

But that's an adage that needs to be tested constantly. Times change, tastes change, technology changes. People change. And aren't we all dependent on people for our business?

"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose," said Bill Gates. That's why success can be a breeding ground for complacency. People and organizations become content, satisfied and comfortable -- too comfortable -- in the way they do things. In short, things are going well and they don't think there is a need to change.

First lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote something similar: "More people are ruined by victory, I imagine, than by defeat."

Complacency can happen to everyone. It doesn't matter how large or small the company or individual. We have all battled complacency at some point. The real trick is to not let it hang around for long.

"I often think we should have a director of corporate insecurity because complacency is the Achilles heel of most companies," said Sir John Bond, former chairman of HSBC Holdings. "As my Chinese friends remind me, today you're a cockerel (chicken), tomorrow you're a feather duster."

Norman Augustine, former chairman of Lockheed Martin, told a story about one of his company's electronics facilities in Orlando, where "complacency started to infect one of our manufacturing processes."

He said: "Occasionally, parts were omitted from component kits prepared for assembly and inspection at another factory. Each missing part disrupted the assembly process and frustrated the workers assembling the products. I borrowed an idea from an automobile dealer in Dallas I had heard about. The dealer received few complaints from customers because he gave them the home telephone numbers of the mechanics who worked on their cars. I arranged for workers to include their names, work phone numbers, and self-addressed postcards in the kits they prepared. Complaints dropped precipitously."

All these examples describe corporate complacency. But the problem also hits individuals. In this job climate, sometimes it feels safer to stay put, even when your job or company isn't meeting your goals or needs. While security is a good thing, you also have to consider what it's doing to your future.

Is your career on the right track? Is it progressing as you planned? If you've been in the same place for a while, think about these items:

-- Contentment. The most important consideration when making career judgments is whether you're happy. Do you find your job satisfying? Have you created a reasonable work/life balance? If you feel good about going to work each day, you've probably found your niche.

-- Development. Have you kept up your professional skills and credentials? Does your position allow you the opportunity to grow and to capitalize on your strengths? Being content isn't sufficient reason to let your skills stagnate. You should continue striving to enhance your marketability.

-- Environment. Are you in a stable organization that will serve your needs well for the foreseeable future? If your company is experiencing a dip in sales or market share, you should consider how those losses might affect your position in the coming months.

It's fine to be comfortable. It's great to be content. But when those translate to being complacent, it's time to take stock, before your stock is worthless.

Mackay's Moral: When on the ladder of success, don't step back to admire your work.

In 1860, a 38-year-old man was working for his father, a leather merchant. He kept books, drove wagons and handled hides for about $66 a month. Prior to this menial job, the man had failed as a soldier, a farmer and a real estate agent. Most of the people who knew him had written him off as a dud. Only eight years later, he was elected president of the United States. The man was Ulysses S. Grant.

Most of us are afraid of failing. We all face fears and anxieties every day, and the only way to overcome them and succeed is to recognize them and confront them directly.

Examine your fears in the light of day. Somehow they always seem worse at night and more difficult to face.

Ask yourself what might happen that you're afraid of -- failure to complete a big project at work, for example, or rejection by someone. Then think of how you could prevent that failure.

Be on the lookout for behaviors and thoughts that add to your fear. Train yourself to change your patterns of action and thinking. Finally, pay attention to what you learn about failure as you confront it. Use the experience of facing and conquering your fear to confront and defeat the obstacles you face every day. Start looking at failure as an opportunity to avoid a future mistake.

Failure can be one more step on your road to success. You just have to turn it in a positive direction. It can strengthen your determination to overcome obstacles and can make you braver in the face of opposition. It can help you learn what you need to do in order to succeed. Failure can teach you to recognize your limitations and your strengths and encourage you to change your strategy.

Though everyone faces setbacks in life, few of us should call ourselves "losers." Part of success is dealing with, and ultimately overcoming, our failures.

Keep your confidence and follow this advice:

-- Change your perspective. Don't think of every unsuccessful attempt as a failure. Almost no one succeeds at everything the first time. Most of us attain our goals only through repeated effort. Take the negativity out of failure by viewing it as a learning experience. Do your best to learn everything you can about what happened and why.

-- Try new approaches. Persistence is important, but repeating the same actions over and over again, hoping that this time you'll succeed, probably won't get you any closer to your objective. Look at your previous unsuccessful efforts and decide what to change. Keep making adjustments, using your experience as a guide.

-- Define the problem better. Analyze the situation: what you want to achieve, what your strategy is, why it didn't work, and so on. Ask yourself if you're really viewing the problem correctly. If you need money, for example, one option is to increase revenue, but you could also try cutting expenses. Think about what you're really trying to do.

-- Don't be a perfectionist. You may have an idealized vision of what success will look and feel like. Though that can be motivational, it may not be realistic. Succeeding at one goal won't eliminate all your problems. Be clear on what will satisfy your objectives, and don't dwell on superficial details.

-- Don't label yourself. You may have failed, but you're not a failure until you stop trying. Think of yourself as someone still striving toward a goal, and you'll be better able to hang in there for the long haul.

-- Pick your battles. You've got to know when sticking to your position is going to be worth the time and energy, and when to back down in order to conserve your resources for the next confrontation. You don't have to succeed all the time to win in the end.

-- Don't play it too safe. In order to succeed, you've got to be willing to fail. The people around you will catch on to your risk aversion if you never take on a difficult project or an ambitious challenge. Don't shy away from hard work if you want your boss, or your teammates, to believe in you.

Mackay's Moral: Some of the best lessons we ever learned, we learned from our mistakes and failures.