Do you look forward or backward?

Where do you and your organization spend most of your time: looking forward or backward? It seems many individuals and organizations spend inordinate amounts of time and energy looking backward. It's as if they consider assigning blame and indulging in recriminations the best use of their time.

Take for example a couple that every time they start a discussion about something they don’t agree on, they end up in a fight about everything that has gone wrong in the past in their relationship.

Or the leader that can dissect every reason why last quarter was a disaster, and blames everybody but himself for the dismal performance. But he can’t seem to move forward to plan what different actions will be helpful for a better performance in the future.

This is a serious mistake!

If you are driving in keep your eyes mostly in the rearview mirror, you will crash because you can’t see what is in front of you and react accordingly.

Whereas assigning fault is necessary in certain circumstances, and learning from the past can be useful, for the most part living in the past is a huge waste of time.

Your time, energy and resources are better employed in:

•          finding solutions

•          moving forward

•          planning the future

•          looking ahead

•          encouraging innovative ideas

You have to decide what is most important to you: looking backward? or moving forward? You can’t do both at the same time.

Remember. . .

A call to action energizes. Blaming and wallowing in problems drains. Your choice can be life changing!