I was sitting at a stop light the other day with my daughter.  The cars were backed up enough so that we could just see the light; we were probably 15 to 20 cars deep in line.  We saw the light change, but we had to sit, because the car in front of us didn't move.  My daughter, being 14 and quite impatient, was annoyed that the light was green but we weren't going anywhere.  By the time we were able to move up in line, the light had turned red.  We were in the weird situation where we were stopped on green lights and going on red lights.

She couldn't figure out why this was happening.  I explained that there was a delay between when the car in front of you moves and when you put your foot on the gas to move your car.  If you are far enough back in line, all those delays add up until you get completely out of sync with the color of the lights.

It seemed obvious to us that if everyone in line would look at the stop light, we could all go at the same time and traffic would flow much faster.  The problem is that if you're looking at the light and the person in front is not paying attention and doesn't move, a rear ender is sure to ensue.   You are forced to wait on others before you can do what you need to do.

That to me seems like a perfect description for this recession.  Everybody is waiting for something before they will take the next step in their business.  You can see the signs around you and you've got your foot on the gas, but you can't put your foot to the floor because you see plenty of brake light right in front of you.  You'll eventually make it thru the light, but everyone is else certainly holding you back.

So here's the deal folks.  If we're going to get thru this recession, let's start focusing on the lights above us and not pay so much attention to the brake lights directly in front. If you get a nudge in the rear, it will probably do you a little good.  If you ram somebody in front of you, so be it.  You're just doing your part to get things moving again.

At Port-to-Port Consulting, an Indianapolis Computer Consulting Services firm, we are moving our business forward.  We've added staff, reorganized our work flow and added services to support our clients better.  We expect that this will enable our clients to do the same for theirs.  If we all do our part and look up instead of at all the brake lights, this recession will be over before we know it.