I started thinking along the lines of several of my favorite mantras:
- Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
- Not dead yet, can't quit
- If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, then the world is yours and all that's in it -- Rudyard Kipling
Let's take the classic time-to-panic scenario - Zombie Invasion. In the classic scene, the zombies are all around the car trying to get in, our valiant hero, ignores the first mantra, and grabs for his key, and jams it into the steering column. Note, he jams it into the steering column, not the ignition switch. Why? His movements were jerky, and therefor did not have the finesse needed to find the switch. He's panicking, he hasn't kept his head, he's forgotten number 3 as well. Some might say that he's obeying number number 2, but is he really? Our typical hero isn't trying to do anything more then stay alive, he's playing defense because he doesn't think he can win.
The Warrior however, knows mantra 1. He's keeping his cool. He knows that he could die, and he accepts his fate. The car is the best weapon he has. He hasn't quit. When he grabs for his key, it's slower then our hero, but he gets it the first time. When inserts it into the ignition switch, it's not as quickly as our hero, but he gets it there the first time. Now that the car is started, its time to go with mantra 2... he's not dead yet.. can't quit.
Works quite well in a horror movie, but what about in business? What happens to the warrior when shipments stop going out, and the bank drains his account, and the creditors are calling? Is he running around slamming phones down, answering hysterical phone calls, and screaming at the bank's customer service rep? All at once? Or does the warrior calmly, smoothly move from one crisis to the next, accepting that the business might be dead by evening, but it's not dead yet, and he can't quit?
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