At some point, we developed a societal impression that the way a clock moves is the natural way of doing things. Clockwise is the default pattern; it’s the order you take turns in a card game. It’s ubiquitous. The opposite direction is but a deviation from the standard.
Coincidentally, counterclockwise is also the direction that my wife walks around the body of water near our home. I walk the path clockwise. I doubt there’s any rhyme or reason to it; most likely, the dog smelled something interesting in that direction the first time we went, and thus our routine was set.
Despite the randomness of that choice, I still couldn’t believe that my wife was walking the opposite direction. Didn’t she know that the angle of the sunrise was especially gorgeous when you follow the trail clockwise? I explained this and my other very compelling reasons to take the path the opposite direction, which earned me a laugh and an, “Okay, Mr. Rigid.”
I’ve been walking this path the same direction for almost five years. I know where things are, and I know the familiar morning crowd. But when I took my wife’s approach and followed the trail counterclockwise, it all seemed so different. I didn’t see people the same way, simply because we were coming at each other from different positions. Where before I would have recognized them by their gait or their dog, they seemed like totally different entities as I passed them from the opposite direction.
It wasn’t just the people. I discovered interesting architectural features of houses along the path, a brightly colored door or intricate detailing on columns. And the sunlight hit the water in the most gorgeous way that I hadn’t been able to appreciate on my usual route.
Was the walk markedly better because I took the counterclockwise path? Not really. It was beautiful, but I live in Florida, so that’s kind of the standard. I was there just as early, sweat just as much, and saw the same people.
Every inch of pavement was exactly the same, but my experience of it was novel.
I asked myself, where else am I taking the path clockwise simply because that’s how I’ve always done it? One area was the way I digest information about the businesses I manage or consult for.
I always hate the end of the month because I have entirely too much data coming my way. With all these facts and figures swarming around me, I simply can’t give it all the proper time it demands when everything needs handling right this moment. And when I’m overwhelmed, I fall back on my routine. I know how each company presents their data, I know my processes for analysis, and I look at each company in an A, B, C order. In other words, I take the path clockwise.
I try to finish things quickly so I can provide timely assistance and insights, but by the time I get to D, E and F, those companies just aren’t getting the same attention that A and B receive. They’re no less important, but by that point, I’ve done so many laps on the path that I’m just not seeing them anymore. So, this last month, I started at F and worked my way up the alphabet. I didn’t have any huge epiphanies that would radically alter the path of these businesses. But I did find all kinds of actionable information that would have remained in the shadows if I’d approached them from my usual perspective. To me, that’s a successful experiment.
Maybe next month I’ll start with C and D and go a different direction. Even though the path is the same, changing my direction gives me a different perspective and a different energy that I can apply to it. And if all I get out of this approach is seeing things from a different angle, then I think the experience will have been well worth it.
Doug Phares is the former CEO of the Sandusky News Group. He currently serves as managing director of Silverwind Enterprises, which owns and provides management services to small businesses. He can be reached at doug@silverwind.biz.
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