There’s a saying out there that says “bad drivers never miss their exit”, meaning a good driver will take the safe route if they are about to miss their exit, but a bad driver will make poor decisions in order to make their exit at all costs. Here’s a great example, where the white car goes out of their way to not miss the exit:
I see a few lessons in this.
The first is to be prepared. Missing your exit isn’t a concern if you’re already in the proper lane and ready to go. Given the power of tools like Google Maps, there’s no reason not to know precisely how far it is until you need to get over.
That said, sometimes things jump up and surprise you and your reaction is critical. Perhaps you need miss a new opportunity and take the long way around to avoid getting into a much worse situation. I read a lot of this in the book “Small Giants” earlier this year, where companies had seemingly great opportunities to expand quickly, but took the option of staying the course instead.
I’ve had a few times in my car where I had intended to take a particular exit and didn’t get myself in the right position, so I just continued on and spent a few extra minutes going a slightly longer way. I’ve done the same with our business at times, choosing to keep going the direction we were on rather than diving into something new.
Be willing to miss your exit.
