Ahhhh, summer… ‘tis the season of the epic roadtrip. Hopefully, you’ve got your favorite snacks packed, an awesome playlist (or audio book) downloaded, your shades at the ready, and an iced coffee sweating in the center console!
I mean, who wants to embark on a grand adventure with the wrong music? Or lame car snacks?
All kidding aside, there is truly an art to a successful road trip. The best ones take a little bit of forethought and planning. Not just in the fun stuff but also in the destination. Which route will you take – fastest or most scenic? Tolls or no tolls? Will you need to stop at a hotel or drive straight through? Are there tiny, kid-size passengers to consider or are you free to do your own thing? Will you visit family or make it some other kind of destination? Is there construction along your intended route that you need to anticipate? What will the weather be like when you arrive? What do you need to pack for your destination – a beach trip and a mountain hiking trip are two very different packing lists!
Sometimes, if you’re chomping at the bit just to get on the road, it’s hard to take the pause to check the forecast or plan for construction. You just want GO! And, it’s even harder to know when it’s time to pull off at a rest stop and take a break for a bit. Slowing down even for a moment seems counterintuitive when you just want to get there. But, sometimes it’s just best to get out, stretch your legs, refuel, and take another look at the GPS before getting back on the road. EVEN if it means getting passed up by the semi-truck you passed half-an-hour ago. (Yes, we know. It’s hard to let him “win”. We’ve been there too.)
Life is a lot like that road trip. There are times when it is best to take the time to be thorough in planning and preparing. There are other times to put the pedal to the metal and GO! There are also times when it’s best to slow down or even pull-off so that you can make it for the long haul. And there are still other times that require some rerouting because the GPS shows a traffic jam ahead.
Where are you on the roadtrip?
Do you have a great concept that needs thought through upfront so that you can avoid wasting time, energy and money down the line? There is a time to go full throttle ahead and just go with it; but only if you’ve taken the time to make sure you’ve got a roadmap and a clear destination in mind.
Are you dealing with some organizational or life complexity that means you might need to consider rerouting? Or pulling off for a pit stop? Maybe you’re midway through your trip and you need to regroup. According to a case study in Forbes magazine, “Slowing down at key times to use dialogue for deep diagnosis can allow the business as a whole to power up. Time lost at the front end can translate into clarity, speed and strength further along in the process.” In fact, the same article reasons that not slowing down can be detrimental to strong leadership. When we don’t slow down, we often waste time and money responding to symptoms instead of root issues. Sometimes that means we need to hit pause on action and decision making, so that we can have deeper conversations.
We’re midway through the third quarter. Where do you need to slow down now so that you can speed up later? What things can you do right now to thoughtfully plan, test some ideas, and map out the direction you really want to go so that you can power up for the last leg of 2017?
