In the course of any given week I'll engage with a number of folks outside of my company. I may visit some local customers, give an online presentation of our latest construction software to prospective clients, or talk to an industry analyst. But this time of year I'm reminded of how large and diverse our industry is because this is the time when I hit the road.

Most of us have heard the expression “measure twice, cut once.” It makes complete sense. But unless you’re in a profession where the cutting is particularly painful when done wrong, it may not be one you take to heart.

The term “straddling the fence” carries with it some negative connotations – being indecisive, trying to take two sides of the same argument, etc. So when a project manager friend of mine and I were talking recently and he said that he spends much of his day straddling the fence, I was confused since this particular individual happens to be fairly opinionated.

I suspect that a number of my readers have been through the city of Amarillo, Texas, and some probably live there. But if you aren’t one of them, let me introduce you to The Big Texan Steak House. This is the original “if you can eat it, it’s free” establishment, home of the legendary 72 oz. top sirloin steak. Eat it in one hour, and it costs you nothing (well, no money, anyway).

It’s a rare sunny January day here in Seattle as I write this, so I’m filled with a sense of “anything is possible” as we start into 2013. Of course for those of us who own or manage businesses the trick is to sort through what’s possible and make choices based on what will probably happen. Said differently, we need to look at all the “coulds” and then decide on our “shoulds.”