Like many of you, I live in a major metropolitan area. The Dallas/Ft.Worth area, or the “Metroplex” as it has been labeled, has experienced a population explosion in the last few years, and with that growth, traffic has increased exponentially. It seems that every freeway, tollway, road, street, and even residential lane is packed. Interstate 30, one of the major thoroughfares in Dallas, is no exception. And the bane of every I30 driver is a particular west-bound 1 ½ – 2 mile stretch of road.
About a mile before the Ferguson Road exit, the freeway curves slightly to the right and about the same distance past the exit, it curves back to the left. Not a sharp curve – just a gentle, easy change in the flow of the road. That area is what the radio traffic reporters refer to as “the Ferguson curve” – and without fail, drivers can always expect a major slowdown at the Ferguson curve. It’s a thorn in the side of drivers, a serious source of frustration. And the strange thing about the Ferguson curve is that once you get through the area, you realize that there’s no apparent reason for the slowdown – no accident, no construction, no disabled vehicle, no police activity. The slowdown just happens.
You may be saying, “So what? What does this Ferguson curve have to do with me?” Well, perhaps more than you might think.
My guess is that in your office, and maybe in your personal life as well, you experience the “Ferguson curve” phenomenon every day. The question is … what is your Ferguson curve?
What are those often hard-to-identify obstacles that are roadblocks slowing you down, clogging up the flow of work, and keeping you from being as productive as you’d like to be?
If you carefully examine the “Ferguson curves” in your office and your life, you may discover that the source of the slowdowns is not what you might think. Your tendency may be to blame circumstances or other people, but frequently the slowdown is not about interruptions, the lack of efficiency of co-workers, the demands of family, broken equipment, failed software, etc. It’s about you and about the obstacles that you create for yourself without even realizing it. It’s the intangibles such as unclear or non-existent goals, lack of planning, procrastination, lack of urgency, failure to honor your “to do” list, wishy-washy intentions, lack of follow-through, or the often-used reasoning of “I just don’t feel like it”. Any one of these actions (or inactions) can cause a slowdown that keeps you from moving forward.
What are your “Ferguson curves”? Be honest. Be honest and commit to taking another route that can open up roads to more personal and professional success.
©Copyright 2019 Julie Alexander
