Weak signals are hard to detect. That’s why they’re call weak signals.

Are you wondering about the picture?

Here’s a hint. If you, or someone you know, owns a car, the picture could be a signal.

I discovered the source of the dots in this picture. It was, <pause for effect> . . .

An oil leak! Can you believe, our 2010 Toyota Rav4 has an oil leak?

It’s not a big leak, but a leak that took me time to recognize. I saw the leak in enough time to avoid significant problems.

Those spots were my indicator that something was wrong with our car.

Finding weak signals

I contacted Ryan, the owner of A Lamp Unto The Streets Auto Repair, to check out the leak. He shared his findings, we talked about the potential cause, and we agreed that I should monitor the situation.

Are we doing the same with our teams? With the products and services, we provide.

What weak indicators are people transmitting that we’re missing? How about the market signals we might be missing?

I’ll grant, there are plenty of distractions and white noise cluttering our world today. We are constantly being bombarded with “urgent” messages that “demand” our attention. The trouble is, we don’t understand the cost of missing the subtle details.

The challenge is to consider what opportunities are being missed. All it takes is noticing a trend, asking for a solution.