We spend 90 percent of our time on autopilot.  And while that has its benefits, like efficiency, it can also be detrimental.  When 57,000 thoughts of the 60,000 we have each day are exactly the same as the day before, it doesn’t allow for a very open mind.

            If we tried to translate that into business opportunities missed, what do you think that’s worth?   While the exact dollar amount may be hard to determine, it is easy to conclude we probably miss more opportunity than we see.

            When we get so focused on the day-to-day, on the market, on the limitations and obstacles, we literally miss opportunity right before us.

            If you need a demonstration, before reading further, click on the following link: http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/flashmovies/15.php. Once there, watch the video and count how many times the ball is passed between those with white t-shirts.  Or if you prefer, count how many times it is passed between those with black t-shirts.

            Many have already seen this video.  By the way, the ball passes from white to white 14 times, and between the blacks 19 times.  That of course is not the point of the video. Most people focused on counting the ball passes totally miss a gorilla walking through the group, slowly.

            If you experience this, it is quite shocking. It appears to be some kind of a trick.  It’s not. It has been learned that conscious perception or focused attention is needed to literally see something that is right in front of you, in plain view.

            You can get off auto pilot.  You can switch your focus to capture more opportunity.  It has to be a conscious effort.  And it has to be backed by a process that involves written goals, attitude management and a change in habits.

            So I repeat, while you are focused on the challenges of the day, to how many opportunities were you blind?

Empower, team, joint decisions, engaged employees…  What do these words have in common?  They all pertain to successful businesses in the Idea Age.

Businesses who understand and leverage these avenues for success, take advantage of the collective mindset, allow the diversity of employees and their abilities to make a difference, and tap into the mushrooming creativity that can come from team dynamics.

If this sounds familiar, like the same stuff that’s been talked, written and blogged about for two decades, there’s a reason.  It is.  So… a lot of business leaders still don’t get it.

Some are still operating as if we’re in the Industrial Age, when power and decisions remained at the top, and employees were neither empowered nor fully engaged. They are still playing hero, the know-all and be-all of the organization.  

How can this be?  Well, it used to work, and it’s really a scary thing to take off the cape and share the responsibilities with others.  Fear still has too many believing that if they don’t make all the decisions and keep a lot of information confidential, they won’t be important any more. They won’t be needed.

The opposite is true.  As the rate of change continues to accelerate, these leaders won’t be needed because they won’t be able to keep up; they’ll be outdated.  And they’ll create a bottleneck that will cause the organization to suffer.

Individual egos get in the way, as do self-proclaimed know-it-alls.  Those who are sure they are right, and don’t have the patience to have an open dialogue with others on critical issues, will weaken the team. Their impact will compound with time.

When a leader operates as if he/she is the company’s greatest asset, they become its weakest link.  The cost of such a leader is too often the only item credited to others.

A business friend sent me a book last week in hopes I’d start reading it before our planned lunch this week.  The book is Secret to a Successful Life: The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. 

There’s so many books on success and having the life you want.  And you know what, most of them say the same thing.  There is no secret.  Olson makes that clear.

In a time when we want the magic pill, the fail-proof formula or the instant solution, Olson points out what we all know to be true.  We know that, as the cliché goes, Rome was not built in a day, and nor is anyone’s life or success.

The reality is that what we do every day either contributes or detracts from our journey,  getting us closer, or taking us farther away from where we want to be.  It is one step at a time, it is one day at a time, and now is the right time.  Carpe diem! Pick the statement that speaks to you, and go with it. They’re all right on.

Life is about choices, and not always big choices.  Olson does a great job illustrating how our choices compound to create our life’s balance, as the money in our bank accounts compound interest.  If you choose to exercise today, you’ll be healthier tomorrow.  If you choose to exercise everyday, than your health will show the exponential benefit for all of your tomorrows.

And so goes the other choices, what you choose to eat or read, who you spend time with, how you spend your time… each moment counts and adds up to the total of your life. Olson recommends a holistic approach, like the one I use with clients. For it is the choices about all areas of our life being in sync that creates the balance for which we all strive.

So what choices are you making today about your greatest asset… your life?