Obstacle or Opportunity?
Many people fail at work and in life because they focus too much on the obstacle rather than the opportunity. I’m sure it’s often true in my own organization. Perhaps it is true in yours. When something goes wrong, we spend hours dissecting it. We often refer to these sessions as post mortems —which literally means “after death.” Shouldn’t that be a clue that we are on the wrong track? I am not suggesting we should stick our heads in the sand. But I do think we should spend more of our time and other resources focused on what we want to create, where we have been successful, and how we can leverage our strengths . The story of David and Goliath provides an excellent example of someone who focused on the opportunities rather than the obstacle. Thousands of sermons have been preached about this story. Hundreds of books have been written. But as I was reading the story again this past weekend in 1 Samuel 17 , I was struck by how useful it is in a business or leadershi...