Chasing Squirrels

chasing squirrelsMy dog loves going for walks. The more the better. Being the yellow lab she is, the mere hint of heading out to explore the world gets her doing backflips. The leash appears and her focus is intently on the road ahead. She knows the route and plows ahead. That is until a squirrel appears on a fence, a branch or the ground anywhere in the vicinity. The walk becomes a distant memory and chasing the squirrel is the only thing that matters. If not for me holding her back, she would be way down a different road or in a backyard, completely off the path. Of course, if I trained her better, she would ignore the squirrels all together.

Its funny how squirrels don’t just appear on walks. They appear everywhere in business. They are the little things that start moving around and distract attention from the goal and cause a loss of momentum toward the things that matter. With training and focus, they can be ignored completely. But if not, they can have a significant impact on the results of the company. How do you keep your organization from chasing squirrels?

Posted in Leadership, Strategy.