“A Bullet in the Temple” – Jeff Wacker

“The bullet that kills you never takes you between the eyes,” says Jeff Wacker, the EDS futurist. ” It always hits you in the temple. You never see it coming because you’re looking in the wrong direction.”

I found this quote in Thomas L. Friedman’s latest book “Hot, Flat and Crowded“. He used it in the context of energy companies. He says “The traditional energy companies have never had to worry about a bullet coming out of the blue. When you finally see a few of them lying by the side of the road with bullets in their temples, you will know that we have finally created a change-or-die world in the energy business – and somebody didn’t change.”

This is a powerful metaphor for the need to be aware of changes coming our way. I mean, how many businesses out there  are going to get hit in the temple over the next few months by economic bullets they never saw coming? From what I’ve seen so far, the effects of the economic downturn are likely to be far reaching, far worse than most people expect. It doesn’t take many real estate developments being shelved for lack of financing until the construction companies and structural steel suppliers start to feel the pinch.

Now more than ever, we business owners and advisors need to keep our eyes wide open to the reality of the current economic situation. Be sure to identify and develop contingency plans for your own “worst case” scenarios and you’ll never take a bullet in YOUR temple.

If you need help developing yours, please contact us at compass@macgillivray.com. If you have questions, please add a comment below and we’ll do our best to answer it.