My Red Herring Nightmare
Posted by Heidi Wurpel
Last night I had a nightmare in a common theme for me: I am rushing about trying to get a long list of things done but then I see something that needs to be “saved”. Last night, it was a little girl with a very scary man following her. The dream ends when I rush the at-risk character into the protection of my car and speed away from the trouble. I share this dream because I have learned to use it as a reminder in my life that has applications for business.
As managers, we often get so bogged down in our day-to-day to do list that we forget to stop and nurture the small, less-pressing, but often more important, visions or goals of our organization until they are on the brink of disaster. While these ‘at risk’ items turn into puppies, birds, and children in my nightmare, they almost always represent a burgeoning strategic objective or goal that has been sitting on the back-burner of my task list for too long in the real world.
In my dream, my car is there to whisk me away from the danger, but life isn’t always so convenient. Thus, it is important to have a group of people available to you that you can call on to help you move your goal out of harm’s way quickly so that you may keep your business growing, and perhaps get a better night’s sleep.
What are the red-herrings on your list keeping you away from your goal?