While in Los Angeles waiting for my flight to Toronto Monday morning, an alarm was going off at the gate where I was checking in. It was a piercing sound that cut into the ear drums like a hot knife through butter. The alarm is supposed to alert people that there’s a problem. A security door was opened by someone and that act set off the alarm.

The alarm sounded for about 3-minutes. As I look around, I’m surprised by just one thing. No one is moving. Everyone is just sitting back in complete apathy. The Department of Homeland Security isn’t bum rushing the area to see why there’s a security breach. Even me, I was just typing away on my laptop without a care in the world.

I’m sure if masked men with hoods pulled over their faces started running through the doors, we would all start to care. However, why does it need to get to that point?

I see this all the time in business. People hear about ways to save money, decrease costs and increase profits using something other than advertising or yellow page ads. They politely nod, look around at each other and tell you they’ll call when they’re ready.

Then, their company stock price takes a nose dive one quarter or their competitor has just launched a blog and are getting tons of media coverage. Suddenly, it matters and the company reacts.

It’s sad. Just like the alarm going off at the airport, companies ignore what’s going on around them and only make a move once something tragic happens. Like a layoff. Or, a declining stock price. Or, a competitor getting all the attention.

Is this the way you’re treating your business? Ignoring what’s going on around you in hopes it will go away?

If you like my blog, why not subscribe? It’s fast and easy. Just click on this link to subscribe for free.