in business & baseball someone always throws a curve. . .
I have been a baseball fan my entire life. Now, having just watched one of the best World Series of all times, it got me thinking about the curve ball and how it can affect things beyond the pitcher and hitter. How an untimed, well thrown, erractic, and movement driven curve ball can affect your business and even test every managerial and entrepreneurial skill you possess. Just like a Hall of Fame hitter, a well-executed curve ball can decrease your batting average and at times hit you with the big K,a strikeout. Worse, if it is thrown at you with a 3-2 count in the bottom of the 9th it could mean “game over”. Let’s face it no matter how long you plan your business, no matter how long you analyze your market, no matter how hard you detail your marketing plans – someone, something, or somehow you will be thrown the ever present”curve-ball”! Worse, you don’t know when,but believe me; it will be thrown at you. Every business owner,manager and entrepreneur must learn to hit the curve ball and more importantly, recognize its characteristics before it hits the catchers glove, and you hear the umpires’ vocal- “stirrrrrrrriiiikkke” 
he fast ball, change up and of course the split finger fast ball, we all expect and can learn how to improvise, plan and adapt our batting stance. But the curve-ball by nature is different each and every time it is thrown at you. The movement, direction and speed vary EVERY time it is thrown. You MUST expect to see it and you MUST learn how to hit it. So how should your business handle the well thrown curve-ball? Adust your stance, correct at the plate, shorten your swing, keep your eyes focused on the ball’s spin and its velocity. If need be, take the pitch – But ALWAYS, have a contingency plan in place for you, your business, market and of course your organization. Adapt to it, course correct your body movement, fast hands and fixed eyes, and most of all be patient and study the pitch as it approaches you, be ready to swing sooner or later,on plane or reach for it- Have well prepared and exercised choices for your adaptives.
HOW? Have that back up / contingency plan in place. Then when required, time its execution and don’t be afraid to swing – remember you planned to hit a curve-ball – you can still get that hit, maybe a home run. Learn from it. Why did you see it? How did it move, spin and how fast? What were your expecting in lieu of the curve-ball? And in a worse case scenario, take the pitch, learn from it and be better prepared to recognize and hit the next one. If you learn to focus, improvise, decide, and act fast and “pull the trigger”. You will learn to hit the curve-ball as well as you hit the fast ball.
As an entrepreneur or business owner you can become a curve-ball hitter. But just in the case you miss the pitch, don’t worry. While, a baseball hitter needs to be successful 3 out of 10 time to make the Hall of Fame. You only need one successful business to make the business hall of fame and become a legend. Just ask any successful entrepreneur and they will tell you they learned to recognize and hit the curve-ball. -Bill Simmel