I had an epic fail. At least my dog thought so. And in this case, it is her opinion that matters. She loves her treat time and I thought it would be fun to try something new. Did I get it wrong! She either picked the new treats out of her food bowl and spit them out on the floor, or ate everything in the bowl except the new treats depending on her mood.

Moving ahead and making progress requires trying new things. But here’s the thing: it won’t always work. And knowing why the failure happened will provide valuable information to know what to do next. Knowing what not to do is just as valuable as knowing what to do.

The rain stayed away for a few weeks, slowing the water flowing through the feeder creeks. The main creek looked still on top even though water flowed through little stick dams. A strange contrast….significant movement while appearing still.

Projects, product development, idea development, and much more can have a significant amount of progress and forward movement while seeming like nothing is moving from the outside. That’s often why big developments seem to come out of nowhere. A lot of activity has been going on for a long time, but those on the outside only saw stillness.

Wow! How can it do that? That’s all I could think as a squirrel leaped across the driveway with a bright red apple about half the size of its body in its mouth. It was probably carrying about half its body weight. But you wouldn’t know given how easily it was leaping. And how was it able to get enough of the apple in its mouth without dropping it? It didn’t worry about all the reasons why it couldn’t or shouldn’t be able to do what it just did. It just did it.

Too often in business, we overthink or come up with all the reasons why something isn’t possible. Or shouldn’t work. Most of the time, it is just a matter of getting in the right frame of mind and making it happen.

Nature has a way of renewing and adapting. We’re now in the season when leaves change colors and fall from the trees. Just the other day, I found a red mushroom. Something I hadn’t seen before. Birds are migrating south. Just about every day, there is something new and different than the day before. And it’s always amazing.

The same can be true in business. Things are always changing. Curious people will look around and find something new and amazing, not just a daily grind. And those are the people worth hiring because they will make every day a good one.

One day recently, I was leaning over some plants and was startled to find a praying mantis had taken up residence. They’re interesting creatures. Very fast. Heads that swivel. And typically beneficial in the garden. They’re good at removing insets that are not desirable. But they can also consume beneficial insects such as bees.

Like these complicated critters, people in the workplace can be complicated too. Sometimes people that do a tremendous amount of good can leave some damage behind as well. The trick is to make sure people are focused on the good stuff and kept away from areas where they can cause damage.

Now that fall has begun and the rain has returned, mushrooms have started popping up along the trail and in the woods. There are quite a variety. And a few look like the type I get at the store. But I’m not a mushroom expert and there are a lot of look alikes that aren’t edible. Taking a chance on not knowing the difference could be highly problematic.

The same sort of situation can be found in business. It’s easy to pick an option that kinda looks like what you need. But not having the skills to know the one that will work and the one that won’t can take you to a bad place. That’s why having people with the right skills is so important for high impact decisions.