Keeping your “eyes on the prize” is an oft quoted business maxim, but it is often so difficult to maintain. Our brains are hard-wired to focus on the immediate concerns rather than the bigger picture.
Time for a tenuous analogy.
I was cycling into town today and I noticed a man walking his dog on the pavement. As I got closer, he started to veer into the road and right across my path. I adjusted and went round him and stared at him, he barely even noticed me. His sole focus was on a pair of men arguing in the cab of a truck nearby. So focussed that he just walked straight out into the road.
Many businesses fail because they focus on the “here and now” and forget the bigger picture. So they concentrate on inter-company politics instead of looking outwards at what is happening around them; on counting paper clips rather than on understanding what true value in the business is, or on the processes and not the outcome. They focus so much on those internal and frequently unproductive things that they sleep-walk into business failure.
The bigger picture might be a changing market place, new technology, new competitors. The business landscape rarely stands still. So a company that does not keep an eye on the horizon, constantly assessing their direction of travel will be one that sails blindly into the rocks (is that enough analogy?).
So whoever you are, big or small, new or established, make sure you spend time looking outwards at the environment you find yourself in … and if you are too busy managing the day-to-day … get someone in to do it for you.
If you would like to know more about how you keep your business focussed on the prize … on your business strategy, or want some further advice …
- Please either e-mail me at paul.kaerger@pkms.co.uk
- Follow me on Twitter at @paul_pkms
- Or connect me at Linked In http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkaerger
Recent Comments