No time to stop and think? Think again.

Stop and think? What, are you kidding me? Who has time to stop and think? It seems to go against every ounce of human nature to slow down just when everything is piling up and everyone is knocking at the door, texting, or emailing.

If you think you have no time to stop and think, I have news for you--that is precisely what you need to do because it is when the bullets are flying, kids are screaming, and the waves are crashing that you need to take a time out.

But will you? Probably not, and I say this from experience.

When I was the CEO for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young in South East Asia, I had the honor of being the advisor to the Singapore Prime Ministers Office and the Ministry of Defence on innovation. Singapore was reeling from a series of severe after shocks including September 11th, SARS, the bursting of the dot.com bubble and a serious recession. In an effort to devise a means to train fifty thousand people on how to survive and thrive I created a game called Boiler Room? (a high temperature, high-pressure environment). During the intensely humorous and challenging sixty-minute game, I devised a rule that became quite useful. It was intended to be used in the midst of all the chaos, when the team was racing against time to stay alive, fight off evil terrorists and accomplish a series of intense missions to save the nation.

The rule was called Stop and Think: Anytime during the game the team could stop the clock and take a five-minute time out, share their experiences, assess the situation and regroup.

The interesting part of this story is that after watching ten thousand military and first responders play, less than five percent took advantage of their free time out!

So, it does seem to be a fact of human nature; it does seem to go against every ounce of thought and that is because your not present, too attached to the situation, and perhaps even motivated by fear.

I remember an interview with Robert Maricich, former President and CEO of Century Furniture who shared his story on air as one of my radio guests on my former CNN program, Global Evolution.

Robert was a great good leader and his company, based in North Carolina, was fighting to survive against the low-cost furniture providers from Asia. All around North Carolina furniture companies were dropping like flies as two in three failed to make it. I will never forget what Robert said, “When you’re in a hole the most important thing is to stop digging.”

Stop digging? Yes, stop, freeze, get the family or leadership team together and take a time out. What Century Furniture realized in their stop and think was that they could not compete at the low end of the furniture spectrum. Instead, a group of talented people led by great leader reevaluated their greatest assets and shifted their mindset, then pivoted their business and market strategy by using their skilled craftsman to focus on creating high end, custom furniture. The results were highly successful.

Do you know how to conduct a stop and think? Are you experiencing some of the same challenges personally or professionally? Do you know the secret to seeing the problem from a different point of view or mobilizing a team that can make the seemingly impossible possible?

If not give me a call.

If you don't have time, then call me quickly and lets play a game. I promise you will not be disappointed, and you will have a lot of fun in the process.