I was watching a guy changing lanes like crazy on Highway 17 yesterday. Highway 17 is a two lane twisty little road that connects San Jose to Santa Cruz. It’s known for slow traffic, big delays and lots of wrecks.
The traffic was slow and this guy was darting back and forth, shoving his way into one lane, passing a car or two, then shoving his way back into the other lane. I see this behavior quite often and I always shake my head. Aside from causing some of those nasty wrecks, it’s pretty silly. You see, I always end up following these lane changers down the hill into Santa Cruz. They’ve gained perhaps a minute on me even as they’ve wreaked havoc in traffic and risked themselves and others.
The lane changer yesterday got me thinking about business. How often do we dart back and forth between products, markets, marketing strategies, sales tactics and even our very organizational structures – looking for a quick fix or a fast way to get ahead?
Market leaders soar because they continuously and consciously adapt.
Note the word consciously. leaders are always on the lookout for signals that portend market shifts. when they sense a subtle shift, they respond appropriately and keep moving forward. If it’s a major shift, they throw their status quo beliefs, based on their past, to the wind and adapt – with conscious thought and planning.
That doesn’t mean they behave like a cat with shiny objects, chasing whatever latest and greatest supposed “opportunity” that comes along.
That’s what the guy on Highway 17 was doing. It is not a strategy for business success.
Photo courtesy of LyzaDanger
