She Killed It

It was a quiet, sunny Saturday afternoon. As I stooped to pick up dog poop, all of a sudden, birds began flying around me, squawking and screeching like something awful was happening. As I turned to see what was going on, to my utter shock, horror and dismay, there was my beloved Sunshine with a baby fledgling in her mouth.

The baby bird was screaming loudly. The mom and dad were dive-bombing Sunshine. I was yelling at her to drop the bird with the hope it would survive.

I still can’t believe that my sweet dog killed their baby in the second it took me to stoop for poop!

The irony is not lost on me. This happens in your business too.

When you get stuck looking after the crap in your business, there is likely something much more important screaming for your attention that you haven’t even noticed. I bet deals get killed, clients get lost, and team members quit because from time to time, there is a ruckus going on that you failed to anticipate.

I immediately stopped what I was doing. I got her to release the bird, brought her into the house, and tried to save the baby. But I was too late. The damage had been done.

The parents, two very upset robins, stood vigil while I placed the tiny bird in a tissue box for them to say their farewells. I was heartbroken that such a thing happened without even noticing what was going on.

But I should have known. Earlier in the afternoon, I saw one of the robins on our garage rooftop. She was very vocal when I came into the backyard—almost like she was protecting her nest. My gut instinct told me something was off about this. She was acting strange, but…

When I went back out with Sunshine later, I hadn’t paid attention to the earlier warning signs.

Have you done this in your business too? Ignored warning signs and later, when the poop hit the fan (sorry, I can’t resist), you realized you should have and could have done better?

I suspect we all have. And, I also suspect that in hindsight, we would have all done better if given the chance. The question you should ask yourself is…when will you start to listen to the warning signs?

 Maybe today is a good day to start.