You know that momentary pang of panic when you look in your rearview mirror and there is a police officer behind you? Even if you are just moving along with the flow of traffic, it can be a bit nerve wracking. That was the case yesterday. After several stop lights and he was still behind me, it was time to move over. Traffic finally started flowing as the congested area was ending. Then it happened. The red jeep that was behind the UPS truck jumped out in front of the motorcycle officer, cutting him off. How could he not see him? No signal to move over, no clearance in front of the motorcycle. Yikes! Not good. The red jeep kept going with the officer on his bumper. Then to make matters worse, the red jeep tried to get back over, pushing the UPS truck onto the shoulder. The lights came on indicating the inevitable.

It seemed that the jeep driver hadn’t realized what happened until looking in the rearview mirror to see the cop. Panic set in and that was when the near accident happened. The driver must have known the UPS truck was there as he was following it and was now beside it. But that panic in the gut caused focus to go elsewhere, nearly causing the accident.

That feeling of panic can cause devastating results in business as well, and it can have many causes. The key is to recognize when the panic hits and then not lose focus on running the business. Being calm and keeping the objectives in mind can help. So can having thought through various scenarios and how to handle them. How are you ensuring you stay focused on your objectives and are not focusing on distractions that cause panic and lead to disastrous results?

There is always a point in time in business where market forces create tension in the business. It may be the loss of a significant customer, a cyclical downturn, or maybe the introduction of a new competitor or product. The point is – you now have something putting pressure on your business demanding immediate attention. It is a reason to come together as a company and do something different. It is the case for change.

Making change happen is one of the toughest things you can do in business. People want a reason to do something different – a case for change or a burning platform. It is comfortable to do the same thing – call it routine or habit. And doing something different takes a lot of effort.

Have you had a crisis recently? A big one doesn’t come around every day. So leverage it while it is there. It can make the difference in your organization surviving.

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been in a number of conversations where a person talked about how they couldn’t do something, or they see people behave toward them in a way that is in opposition to what they want. In each case, the person, when relaxed and in a positive frame of mind, did exactly what they said they couldn’t do. In focusing on what they didn’t want, they created a mindset that caused the exact results they said they didn’t want. A self-fulfilling prophecy. The miss is that if the focus was on the positive, so to would be the results.

This same approach happens in business. Whether a positive or a negative focus, the conditions are created to generate outcomes. They may be in opposition to the stated goals, because the focus is not put in the right place.  And amazingly, when the focus is on the positive with a can do attitude, the results follow. How do you ensure that you have the outcomes you want in your business and the self-fulfilling prophecy is the one you want?

There is a pretty typical pattern. People come to Zumba for the first time, find a spot in the back and try to figure out what to do. They focus intently on the instructor, trying to match the movements while those around them move with ease as they have done it many times before. A point typically comes when the group is moving to the left and the person is a few steps behind and moves to the right, creating a near collision. People who go to the class regularly know who is new and to watch out for them. The person who is new to class has no idea they have nearly caused a collision. They are focused so intently on figuring out what to do, they have lost track of their surroundings.

This can happen in business too. Whether it is a new industry, a new person in a new position, a new product launch, etc. Making sure mechanisms are in place to keep focus on the broader business while a new element is introduced is critical to the long-term success of the business. How are you making sure you don’t lose sight of the broader perspective by focusing too much?

You’ve probably seen this one before. Someone has a great idea. They are really excited about it and think it can have a big impact. They bring the idea forward and the response is: “That sounds like a great idea. Let’s get a committee together (or send it to a specific committee) to see if it is viable.” And then the sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach hits. The death of an idea. The committee.

Don’t get me wrong, committees can be a great thing if done right. They can bring together a bunch of different perspectives to round out ideas and figure out how to make ideas work – if that is the focus. Many times though, committees can get bogged down with no real charter to make progress. As a result, ideas die and people become dis-incentivized. How do you make sure you aren’t killing good ideas in your business through creating structures that aren’t designed to facilitate progress?