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A few years ago a national retailer, after analysis of its worst performing stores, decided to close the worst of the worst. On that list was a store that had it baffled. It was a good location in a good trade area with plenty of traffic and great visibility. But, it continually lagged behind other stores in the system.

In the movie, “The Karate Kid”, Mr. Miyage exhorts Daniel to “Look eye, Daniel-san, always look eye!”. Most communication issues can be distilled to a lack of “Look eye”. These issues have many symptoms but the most common is “avoid eye”.

In his book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There Marshall Goldsmith points out that the fundamental beliefs that drive our success can also make us resistant to change. We overestimate our contributions and sometimes take credit for things that others have accomplished while often ignoring our own shortcomings. These delusions are the result of success, not failure. He observes that the four key beliefs that have helped us become successful can also make it very difficult for us to affect change.

Yesterday, September 8th marked the 4th year of the Sub-5 Ride for Parkinson’s Research. The event challenges cyclists to complete 100 miles in less than 5 hours while raising funds for Parkinson’s research. On Sunday over 300 cyclists departed Hampshire High School at 7:30 am. This group of cyclists collectively logged over a half million training miles and raised over $100,000. But that’s only half the story. Selfless volunteers account for the other half.

In a prior life, I often found myself dealing with about 136 issues daily, hoping to solve as many business problems as possible. But, no matter how many issues I moved off my desk, the next day there’d be a few more there waiting for me. I measured my productivity and success by how many problems I could solve. Often I found myself solving the same issues over and over again. Sound familiar?