I was on the phone at the time it happened. I glanced out my doorway when I heard voices. I saw two firemen walking down the hallway with the maintenance staff. Shortly after that, a gas company employee burst into my office and interrupted my phone conversation. He hastily asked if I could let him into a locked part of the building. I told him he would have to find the building manager or the maintenance crew. Just seconds behind him came our landlord letting us know that the building had to be evacuated immediately. I hung up the phone and made my way into the hallway. The smell of natural gas was thick in the hallways. Without thinking, I grabbed a couple of items off my desk and turned out the lights on my way out the door.

When I entered the parking lot, the gas smell was even worse. I could see the leaking area blowing dust 12 feet into the air. In rapid succession, a gas employee told me not to remotely open my car or start it, and also to not use my cell phone until I got one block away or the entire street would ignite! Again, I followed orders and headed out to the street. I was met by a fireman who told me to get clear of the building. "When it blows, you don’t want to get hit by flying glass and bricks,” he said. When it blows? Not if it blows, but when it blows!

I found myself on the street watching as people evacuated their buildings with whatever they grabbed as they walked out the door. Two or three people from the law office on the corner had large stacks of files in hand. I suppose they were in a meeting when the command to leave the building came down. The architects in the north wing of the building had a set of blueprints. Most people had nothing. I came away with my cell phone and a pen.  There was really no rhyme nor reason to what people had managed to extract from their offices as they fled. In my case, I could not even remember what I picked up. I suppose I was writing something down and the cell phone was sitting on my desk. It is just instinct for me to pick it up and turn out the lights every time I leave the office.

It is this instinct that I would like to address as it applies to business. When something happens that surprises us, especially if it is bad news, we many times react instinctively as if to save our life. Reactive response is wonderful when you have a life-threatening situation. The fear factor kicks in and our bodies produce adrenaline to help us to get out of a dangerous situation quickly. There is not time to think, we just need to react. But too often in business, we react to news or events as if we had to evacuate the building. A decision made in the heat of the moment is typically not a good one. These are days when bad news is happening all too frequently to businesses. If you react out of fear, you will more than likely regret your actions later.

As companies are making plans and setting goals for next year, I find that many "plans” are nothing more than instinctive reactions to bad news. Sales were down this year over last year. That trend has to change. Pressure is applied to make a move, any move. Panic sets in. What will you do? Let me state that a marketing decision made in a fearful, reactive manner never works. Hard times require wise thinking about how you will market your services.

My friend Scott Livingston has written a book where he describes the "fight or flight” center of our brain. It is called the amygdala. In times of emergency, this tiny section of our brain takes over all thought process and tells us to either fight for our lives or to run for cover. He describes the "amygdala hijack” that occurs within us when we sense danger. Our heart rate goes up, our breathing becomes heavy and our muscles are poised for action. All rationale is tossed aside as we strive to save our life in that instant. How do you overcome this reactive response to bad news? One is to let some time go by before you do anything. Give yourself some time to calm down. Monitor your breathing and find a place to relax. When the tension leaves your body, then begin to think through the situation.

Thankfully, my office building never did blow up. After a few hours, the gas line was pinched off, the building was tested for lingering gas and we were cleared to go back to work. It is interesting to note that after I sat across from my office building for a short time, I began to think about the things I should have done before I left the office. Why grab my cell phone instead of the only photo I have of my wife and daughter when she first smiled as a baby? I can get another cell phone, but not another photo like this one. Why take time to turn out the lights when I left all other electrical machines running in the office? My point is this, after some time went by, I had my thinking mind once again. I was able to apply reason to my realm once again. Do yourself a favor and apply some calm reason to your planning for next year.