Is Your Business Stuck in Traffic?

As I drove down to Notre Dame this past weekend, I encountered four different construction zones.  Though seeing as a majority of my trip entailed travel through Michigan, and Michigan is known for our two seasons of driving: “snow” and “construction”, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Needless to say, I had a plethora of time to think about various areas of interest.  Among the many topics of thought that graced my mind, one in particular correlated to what we do with our downtime; specifically downtime within our businesses.

We all have things that we should do, but there aren’t always tasks that we have to do. Those required responsibilities are easy.  We have to do them; so we do.  But when your engine is idling, or creeping at a whopping 9 mph, do you utilize the time wisely?

Illustratively, every business has seasons.  In some direct sales businesses, the fall traditionally ramps up for the busy season. If your product line would make excellent gifts, then October and November should be peak sales.  But what happens at the tail end of December when Christmas cut-off has come and gone?  Furthermore, what will you do in January when consumers are financially strapped?

If you find yourself with some downtime and your business is stuck in traffic, you have three detours you can take:

Route A.  Get irritated because you’re stuck just sitting.  No matter how many times you honk the horn or shout naughty words at the driver in front of you, you’re not moving forward. Perhaps you’ll just quit driving from now on; you don’t need the headaches!

Route B. Do your own thing. Maybe you can go around on the shoulder.  Or maybe all those people in front of you in line aren’t as innovative as you. Perhaps you can take a short cut and jump to the front sooner. Why bother with rules, you can outsmart them.

Route C.  Enjoy the slower pace; after all, you’re not very self-disciplined to just be still. Realize that the slow down is beyond your span of control and use the time to brainstorm or dream big.  Or give yourself permission to just check out from thinking for a while and let your mind wander. (Just be sure to multi-task and keep your eyes on the road).

Odds are you’ve taken at least two of these detours before.  Route A serves no useful purpose except to increase your blood pressure.  Route B on rare occasions may prove fruitful.  Yet generally only serves to put you further behind. Route C seems to be the best route to take. Wouldn’t you agree?

So the next time you aren’t getting the results you’d like with your business, don’t just get mad and quit (don’t even utter the words “This is crap, I quit!). Also don’t try to re-invent the wheel. Take a fresh look at your corporate training material and start with the basics. What are the leaders in your company doing?  Instead, take Route C – and just accept that you have some downtime for a reason and make the best of it.  Embrace the time to recharge, renew and refresh.

Once you make it out of the construction zone, you’ll be a better “driver” for it.