Drift
Life goes where you look.
Drift is inevitable.
Course correction is normal.
Cars and motorcycles drift where drivers look. Skiers and runners go where their eyes go. Individuals and organizations drift toward short-term views and urgencies. Drift demands intervention.
Uncorrected drift always end badly.
Drifting:
“Everything’s running smoothly,” may indicate drifting. No one notices gentle drift. Sudden changes and giant shifts grab attention but drift invites slumber.
Drift always becomes crisis. Organizations quietly drift until someone looks around and says, “How the heck did we get here?” That’s when finger pointing starts. But fingers often point in wrong directions.
Drift is always leadership’s failure.
Neglect allows drift.
Organizations drift because:
- Pointing out drift makes you look foolish because drift is no big deal, at first. Other’s wonder what you’re all excited about. They say, “Chill! It’s no big deal.”
- Day-to-day dominates attention.
- Busyness is honored.
- Productivity isn’t measured.
- Urgency defeats priority.
Focus on today while managing. Focus on tomorrow while leading. Bennis said, “Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led.”
Dealing with drift:
- Pay attention to attention. At lunch evaluate morning focus, for example. What captured your thoughts? What attitude dominated your thinking? How are you making others feel?
- Set appointments with forward-thinking-time. Ask, “What destinations are established by current directions. If nothing changes where will we be next year?”
- Courageously, “Act like then is now,” Andy Stanley.
- Clarify mission and vision, constantly.
- Face problems with optimism, not blinders.
- Create celebration points. Celebrations help others focus on what’s important.
Focus don’t drift:
What you pay attention to, you become.
- Focus on what can’t be done to feel powerless.
- Concentrate on problems apart from next steps makes you negative.
- Appreciate and develop strengths to feel capable.
What causes personal or organizational drift?
How can you begin dealing with drift, today?
So informative. Thanks this will surely help in my professional life.. 🙂
Best wishes.
Awesome timing.
We just got our hands on a 3 foot long section of guardrail to hang in our office.
We are talking as a team about guardrails to prevent us from drifting…or flat-out driving…into danger. But thing about guardrails, they are always still just within the margin of where you could drive. They are always on this side of the danger..creating a “buffer”. Or as Andy Stanley explains, allowing for a small crash to prevent a major catastrophe.
I’m eager to read and have conversation about this post with my team. Thanks.
Thank you ecdingler. Love the guardrail illustration. It creates food for thought. There’s a place for guardrails but only as preventative measures. Preventative measures seldom create positive futures… Cheers
Love the byline on your blog: Leadership happens everywhere.
If guardrails are seen as barriers on a predestined trail…they could stifle creativity. But, we are using them in a larger “image vision” that we are deciding the direction of the road ahead of us to build. After we determine it’s direction…we then identify where guardrails are needed.
Thanks for the compliment on the byline.
Rails after vision, not before. 🙂
It’s easier to identify key success factors but not as easy to identify key failure factors. It seems like your use of guardrails might consist of things that indicate failure is ahead if you don’t refocus…
Is this about defining failure as well as success?
YOu can see that I’m interested in your ideas.
I appreciate the dialogue. I do want to define our success. We use our mission and vision to determine next steps (our direction). I want no predefined obstacles or barriers in this process. I like what Rick Warren said…”We don’t have to think outside the box, because we never think there is a box.” (paraphrased) Then, we place guardrails based upon our core values to keep us moving straight to reach the desired and defined area of success.
Interesting you use values to help define guardrails. We find values guide decisions. Thanks for this food for thought.
Interesting photo – I’m at a loss to understand the intended meaning however.
I enjoy and benefit from your blog, and recommend it often.
Thank you Bob. The images I pick are often, only loosely connected to the post. I should have a boat drifting. I tend to think of concepts and then bop around morgueFile.com for something that strikes my fancy. This one made me think of intentional focus… 🙂
You aren’t the first who has wondered about the images. Cheers
Reblogged this on willowcreeksa and commented:
We all drift…
You and I must think a like as I get the picture and really like it. Great post as always. Have a wonderful day Dan 🙂
Shift happens… or maybe its drift happens.
Unintentional or intentional?
Wonder if there is a place for intentional drift? If there is no box, a la Rick Warren via ecdingler and you have guard rails, seems like that is creating a space for intentional drift. We may leverage intentional drift via brainstorms, strategic planning, etc. Do you think Columbus may have found parts of this world with a bit a intentional drift too? Still to Dan’s point, even drift requires parameters and outcomes before it becomes a huge batch o’ barnacles that slows/stops your ship.
The mountain I am trying to climb is so large and the pitch so vertical a little diversion of the wandering mind isn’t that big a deal.
Once I realize I am off daydreaming the mountain is still waiting in me.
I am eagerly looking forward to one day experiencing growth like the bonzi tree!
Till then back to climbing.
Have a great day!
Scott
Just the column I needed today. Excellent work, as always.
Thought provoking Dan, thank you for sharing this- I have shared it with the Leadership Team- to see if it gets them thinking as well.
Very useful to consider drift. I shared your post on energy management with the whole staff yesterday as I believe that that is the key (complemented by your point above about busyness v. productivuty- a trap it is easy to fall into if your awareness drops)
Thanks again