"When You Get to the Fork in the Road, Take It ! " -- Yogi Berra

Have you ever watched a cat move around a room? Unless El Gato is stalking a target (a bird, a mouse, an insect, a ball of yarn), he is wandering according to a constantly-changing set of instructions: first heading in one direction; then suddenly heading off in another for no apparent reason.

This behavior reflects the absence of “executive function” – a term for the “executive department” of our brains that makes decisions. Cats don’t have it. Some humans have lost it due to brain damage. And any observer of the business world will swear that there are company owners with this deficit, too: constantly changing directions and reacting to the stimulus of the moment rather than sailing a constant course.

In an earlier posting, I discussed the importance of a strategic vision in helping companies decide whether an unexpected “deal” is an opportunity or a distraction. But a strategic vision also helps a company which fork in the road to take to stay on track. The other fork might just get us irretrievably lost, taking us down the road to oblivion. A company without a strategic vision is often managed in a haphazard way: like a country without a Chief Executive.

As Yogi said: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re never going to get there.”

-- Steve Caccavo, President of Constructive Business Solutions™, draws on his years of entrepreneurial experience to help owners strengthen and grow their small and mid-size businesses. © 2009 by Constructive Business Solutions™, a division of Positive Employment Practices, Inc.