With Cupid zinging love-tipped arrows through the air, I thought this would be a good time to warn you of the dangers. There are many situations in the workplace where love at first sight is common, but should be avoided.

1. When interviewing candidates for a job opening, sometimes you get lucky and start with a great one. But don’t fall in love at first sight, no matter how amazing the first candidate. Talk to at least a few more. Broaden your perspective. Sharpen your questions. Let the contrasts deepen your understanding of the characteristics most important to the position.

2. When considering your options, you should definitely dodge the arrow. The first options to surface, no matter the situation, represent old habits, perennial favorites, fads, and lingering ideas from most recent conversations, rarely great ideas. Take a little extra time to brainstorm. A  wild and crazy pause can unleash far better options. A client struggling with next steps and batting oft-repeated options paused long enough to ask my advice. “Should we go with A or B?” My response: Neither. And that is when the conversation got interesting!

3. Love your plan? Excited to leap into action? You are hooked with a bad case of love sickness, something I see all of the time. Stop yourself before it is too late. Plans fail. Almost always. Before you race into action, pause long enough to ask yourself what might go wrong. A little preventive thinking can save you time, money, stress, embarrassment, and customer displeasure.

4. When you develop a new process or identify a solution to a problem, love at first sight can mean catastrophe. Test drive your solution before training scads of people and developing extensive support systems.

When I met my future husband, it may have been love at first sight, but I made him quit his job and spend two months with me in Europe on a starvation budget. I needed to be sure I really liked him and that he wasn’t just the best man available in central New Hampshire. Let Cupid light the fire, but keep the fire extinguisher handy!

– See more at: https://www.uncommonclarity.com/4-reasons-to-avoid-cupids-arrow/#more-4113