Bruno's Web Tip

Bruno Gideon is a regular columnist for the SCCC website. Bruno will share some of his wisdom with our readers by giving useful tips for everyday life and practical advice for today’s entrepreneurs.

Bruno will also love to hear back from our readers by e-mail.

Warning signs? Be careful.

A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.
– Frank Capra

Think about something that went wrong in your business or personal life. Then ask yourself if there were any warning signs. You will probably say yes. Then ask yourself the question: Why didn't I pay attention to these signals? Isn't it amazing that you knew something was wrong but didn't react? One of the most fascinating examples of this in our time is the Madoff scandal – the financier that cheated sophisticated colleagues out of a staggering 50 billion dollars! I am sure that most of these highly experienced professionals had a hunch that this was too good to be true, but their gut feeling was overruled and quieted by wishful thinking.

But let's be honest with ourselves. Don't we sometimes ignore our gut feeling? Of course we do and it is easy to see why. Listening to our inner voice might require us to act contrary to our wishes, and that can be unpleasant. The temptation is to sit back and say to ourselves, "It will eventually turn out to be all right." And sometimes it does, but most of the time it doesn’t. I am sure that all of us could tell a story that starts with: “I remember a time when I ignored the warning signs and… ”

Every problem carries with hidden information that can show us what could be wrong and what needs to be corrected. We can save ourselves a lot of trouble, frustration, and money if we take these warning signs seriously. Once we have ferreted out this information, we will be able to clearly hear and see the warning signs, even when they are in clever disguise.

Right now are you hearing warning signs about something in your personal or professional life? Look for the hidden information.