Situational Awareness

Many people and businesses make this same mistake every day. We let ourselves rely on a new technology or process without making provisions for review or backup in case we're led into risky situations. We throw aside our usual cautions or suspicions and charge forward, abandoning situational awareness.

Maintaining situational awareness is a skill we all need to practice. Whether you are embracing cloud computing, hiring new employees, entering into business partnerships or using the GPS in your rental car, it's critically important that you maintain situational awareness and keep a weather eye on what you're doing, where you're going, and what risks you may be encountering so you can determine what lies ahead before it's too late to do anything about it.

We regrouped that day and moved on quickly. I always carry a backup now. Unfortunately, I just realized that my backup is the mapping app on my iPhone and that I have, again, fallen into the trap of complacency.