Are you missing the signs?

Driving down the road today, an SUV was smashed head on into the guardrail intended to mark the beginning of an exit. Given the direction and position the other vehicles, I couldn’t help but wonder if the vehicle had decided not to exit was and tried to get back into the freeway, missing the mark. I don’t know what actually happened and can only speculate.   The interesting thing about this particular exit is that there are several signs over the prior mile indicating the exit only is approaching. The striping on the road also changes, indicating the lane is exit only. Regularly, there is a last minute shuffle as the opportunity to merge runs out and vehicles attempt to merge with little room. The traffic moves well in this area, so it is not a matter of trying to line jump, it is a matter of not realizing it is time to merge. It always surprises me how frequently people seem to miss the obvious signs on the highway.

This situation is not isolated to driving down the road. It happens frequently in business. There are signs about changes coming in the market, costs in the business, shifting of customer needs, etc. But many times they are missed because the focus is elsewhere. How do you make sure you don’t miss the signs in your business?