Speed versus direction

Imagine taking off on a flight from Los Angeles to New York City. About 30 minutes before landing, the pilot announces to the cabin that the plane has just set a new record for the fastest trip. The crew and passengers all applaud the great work by the pilot!

But as you taxi to the terminal, the pilot comes on again to announce that, due to a minor malfunction in the navigation system, the plane flew slightly off course, by just 3.5 degrees south.

That doesn’t sound so bad, right?

It turns out that a 3.5-degree difference after taking off from LA means that instead of landing in NYC, the plan instead landed in Washington, D.C., a full 225 miles away!

Direction matters more than speed.

How fast we go and how quickly we get there doesn’t matter if we end up in the wrong place.

That’s part of what differentiates the owners from employees. Owners have to ensure the business isn’t just performing well in terms of numbers but that those numbers are also moving in the right direction.

And the direction for those numbers is your personal vision. That’s your North Star.

So let me know…

Are you confident about the direction your business is heading?

Do you need a course correction?

How can I help get you back on course?

Hit REPLY and tell me about it!

Credit to James Clear for the story about the flight from LA to NYC. You can find it in Chapter 1 of his book, Atomic Habits.