It rains a lot in this neck of the woods during the winter. So, I bought a poncho to continue hiking in the rain. I wanted more coverage over my legs than I had from my jacket. My quick buy didn’t consider what was actually needed in raingear. After my first hike, the mistake was clear. I bought waterproof gear that wasn’t breathable. All that sweat just sat on my clothes making me as wet inside as it was outside!

It’s just as easy in business to make a quick decision without considering all the needs of the solution being sought. The quick decision addresses the obvious issue, but not all the considerations necessary to make the solution lasting.

How are you making sure you capture all the necessary considerations when making decisions?

The tree was laying across the trail, causing me to look at it as I climbed over it. It’s roots were largely detached, probably the reason it fell. Roots do a lot. They anchor trees to the ground, they gather nutrients to help the tree grow and they absorb water. Healthy root systems are necessary for healthy trees.

The same is true in business. A strong foundation, just like roots, is necessary for the business to grow and thrive. Culture, a strong team, systems and processes are all necessary for the business to grow and thrive.

Do you have a strong root system in your business? If not, it’s time to take a look at how to strengthen it.

My dog loves chews. She literally runs for them at full speed. So when I got her a new one, I thought she would love it. She tore through it with gusto. But with each bite she took, she spit out the pieces in a pile all around her. It was an epic fail. Or so I thought. It turns out, she went back and ate all the pieces she spit out around her. That fail turned out to be a success.

Sometimes with new things, it gets really messy in the middle and you wonder why you got into the mess in the first place. But with persistence, you can get to the other side and will have learned a lot from the journey.

When was the last time you thought you had an epic fail and it turned out to be a success?

The sign read: Plants grow by the inch and die by the foot. How clever! It was a catchy way of asking people to stay on the trail that leads out from the Mt. St. Helens observatory into the mountains. The trail is pretty narrow and the tendency of many would be to trample the plants to get around others in their way. Killing plants that took time to grow.

In business, it is really easy to kill ideas or discourage people by trying to be expeditious. There are times when ideas and people need to be nurtured. And at those times, having an explicit view of how they will be protected is critical to their success.

How are you making sure your ideas and people aren’t growing by the inch and dying by the foot?

Have you ever noticed the channel cut by a stream or a river in an area that has large volumes of water that flow through? Sometimes a tree or changes in the embankments can change its course. But generally, it heads roughly in the same direction.

Leaders are a bit like that stream or river. They need to chart a course for their team, leaving a very clear path that people can follow. Sometimes they need to make course corrections in a clear way that shows people how to adjust. And the direction is always forward, at times with high velocity.

How are you creating carving a path for your people?

On a recent day, I decided to go for a lunchtime hike at my favorite hiking place. There are so many miles of trails that even if there are a number of people around, you might not see them for quite a distance. And that was the case that particular day. Which made it possible for what happened. As I was coming around the bend, right ahead of me on the path were three deer. All three paused for a moment, looked at me, then ran up the trail. They rounded a bend and were gone.

Their appearance was totally unexpected. Not for the location, but for the time of day. Unexpected things happen all the time. Are you watching for them?