It is funny how topics seem to come up in swarms. This week the subject of the Aha moment popped up several times. Each conversation had remarkable similarities to the others. Each was a story teaching a new concept. Sometimes the explanations for the change came in multiple forms and forums. At some point, the light goes on and people get it.

People learn in different ways and in different forms. Some do better seeing the information in writing. Others prefer hearing information. Change takes repetition, and lots of it. People need to understand why the change is happening and what is in it for them. At some point – and you won’t know when it will happen – people will get it. How are you helping people in your business reach the aha moment?

It was one of those flattering moments when a peer said I was a natural. The reality is, I’m not. It had taken hard work over years to get to the point where I was ok. But it was a good reminder of a conversation I had years ago. I was speaking with a gentleman who was responsible for investor relations for our mutual employer. He was incredible to watch! He always greeted people warmly with their name and was solely focused on them. He was welcoming, always in command of facts, and never seemed to be ruffled. One day I asked him if he came by it naturally or if he had to work at it. He shared openly how hard he had worked over the years to develop his skills. Once he developed the skills and made them habit, it then became easy to continue them.

The reality is operating a business well is the same way. It takes a lot of hard work to make things look natural and easy, pleasing customers, partners and employees. Once the hard work of getting to where things work well and become habit, it is then easy to maintain and becomes second nature. What steps are you taking to make things look natural in your business?

During the recent snow storm, huge amounts of snow sat on trees for a week weighing down the limbs. At one corner, the limbs were so heavy, they drooped across a fence and sidewalk blocking the view. That would not normally be a major issue, except the road curved just before the fence making it impossible to see if cars were coming if you were trying to turn at this particular intersection. A slow creep into the street would either reveal a clear road or a car racing toward you. At that point, your choice was either to wait or punch the gas. There are no mirrors like you see in buildings or parking structures to let you know what is coming. Rather, it is up to your skill, timing and luck.

In uncertain times, the ability to see around corners will let you outpace your competition or be left behind. Developing the signals to let you know what is coming, such as the mirrors in a parking garage, will give you insight into when to take action and when not to. Additionally, developing the skills to react quickly when it is time to move will allow you to outpace your competition. How are you developing the tools and skills to see around corners and move quickly?

We all like to make progress. And when we don’t, it can be incredibly frustrating. That has been incredibly apparent over the last few weeks with snow filled roads that have not been drivable. The anxiety has been building up with people and you can see it in how some are driving. The reality is, the road conditions are not conducive in many areas to high rates of speed. But for some, the desire to make progress gets the better of them, resulting in the road being littered with cars in the ditch or on the embankments. They just want to get out of the house and are tired being stuck on a slow moving road making no progress.

It’s easy to get frustrated with making slow or no progress. As a leader, it is important not to let that frustration get the better of you and make mistakes by taking reckless risks. There is a difference between moving quickly and moving too fast for the conditions and not recognizing the risk. How do you ensure you are making rapid progress, but not taking unnecessary risks?

Last week I wrote about a water leak at a house I walk by on a daily basis. After two weeks, two calls to the water department, three attempts at knocking on their front door, and knocking on three neighbors doors, the water is still flowing heavily down the hill and down the drain. This house is on a fairly busy corner. Many people walk by at all times of the day. So it raises several questions: do people walk by and not do anything? Do they walk by and not notice? Or, do they attempt to reach the people, like me, to no avail?

All of these situations are problematic and not what you would want in your business. In business, it is important that people are paying attention and notice when things go sideways. They are engaged in the business and care. They do notice and raise the flag to get issues corrected. And when the red flag goes up, there is a mechanism such that it is easy to resolve and the person is recognized for doing the right thing. Do you have a company culture where people are engaged and it is easy to get things done? Or is it hard to resolve situations and people just don’t care? How are you creating the culture you want in your company?

You know those embarrassing moments when the solution is so obvious, but you have somehow overlooked it? I had one of those moments recently. My dog decided it would be entertaining to shred both ends of a bag of potting soil and spread some of the soil around the garage. It was a brand new bag. And with both ends opened, I needed to figure out what to do with it. While it was not a priority, it would annoy me every time I looked at it. There it sat for several weeks, until I looked six or so feet past the bag to a pile of empty tubs. All I had to do was carefully pick up the bag and dump it into the tub. It was an obvious solution. And it had been there the whole time.

Many times the solution to the issue you are working in business is already there. It may be the experience of a person somewhere else in the company, or it may be right there staring you in the face waiting for you to look up. The solution presents itself when you declare the issue and are open to the solution. By doing this, it opens the conversation for the people with the knowledge to come forward. Or it shifts your focus to resolving the issue. How are you making sure you don’t miss the solutions that are right in front of you?

Ever since the port closed in Portland for cargo shipments, the volume of trucks on the road has increased. It makes sense – if the goods aren’t going out on ship, you’d expect the rail and truck volumes to increase. The highways are three lanes each way, sometimes two lanes. The trucks typically travel in the middle lane, in very close proximity to each other. I call it the truck blockade because it is incredibly difficult to get from the right lane to the left lane as the trucks are typically too close together and too many of them to maneuver easily. After a bit of research, it turns out that the reason for this is safety (being in the center lane – more opportunity to maneuver) and fuel efficiency (driving close together – drafting).

It may or may not be obvious why certain actions are being taken based on your background and experience. Within a company, helping people understand why actions are being taken can help keep efficient, forward momentum. At the same time, it is important to understand if there are unintended consequences to the actions being taken that rise to the level of needing to make tweaks to the actions to keep efficient, forward momentum. How are you making sure that you the actions in your company are intentional, efficient and effective?