Let’s say you’re riding a bicycle down the road. You look ahead, and there it is: a rock. Just the right size that if you were to ride over it, you could damage your wheel, tip your bike, and fall off. What usually happens in those cases? If you’re like me when I first started riding, you may think to yourself, “I’m not going to hit that rock, I see it… it’s right there, and I’ll just steer around it.” What ends up happening? You hit the rock. Why? Because it’s what you were looking at, and the bike goes where you look.
Have you ever noticed the same trend in business? Perhaps you’ve focused on a possible thread that emerged from your SPOT analysis… only to find that you ran smack into it. Or perhaps you’ve kept your eye on how much business may have decreased over the last few years in a particular sector… only to find that your own sales have mirrored that decrease.
Your bike goes where you look. So how do you avoid the potential hazards or pitfalls in the road ahead?
After taking a nosedive upon hitting that rock with my own bike, my cycling coach came zipping up alongside me sprawled on the asphalt.
Him: “What happened?”
Me: (pulling myself upright) “I hit a rock.”
Him: “You know why you hit it?”
Me: “I didn’t mean to… I had my eye on it the entire time so I could avoid it… “
Him: (cutting me off) “… yeah, that doesn’t work. Next time you see a rock in the road, here’s what I want you to do: look at the tree down the street… and take your focus off the rock.”
Me: (brushing off my bum) “But if I’m ignoring the rock, how will I avoid it?”
Him: “You won’t be ignoring the rock. You’ll have seen it, and you’ll know it’s there. What I need you to do at that point is redirect your focus on where you want to go… and the bike will take you there.”
September marks the time when folks start prepping for their upcoming strategic planning season. May this season bring you an inspiring vision of where you can go, a clear path for how you can get there, and a “woo hoo” bursting out of you from shear excitement for the ride ahead!
(And of course, if you want some help creating a strategic plan you can’t wait to implement… just let me know! ;^)
I cannot wait to see what you draw forth,
