“Always take the back way.”
That’s what I told my guys once during a warrant service.
They rolled their eyes.
We had the address.
The GPS had the route.
So why not take the fastest way?
Because there’s one thing missing from the conversation: speed and strategy aren’t the same thing.
They went the direct route anyway, until one day I made them take the back roads.
And there he was.
The suspect we were driving to arrest… was sitting in the passenger seat of a random car on a side street.
Not at the house.
Not where the plan said he’d be.
Exactly where curiosity led us.
That’s when I learned something that changed how I lead:
The shortest route kills awareness.
The “efficient” path sometimes blinds you to opportunity.
Certainty is the enemy of discovery.
In leadership, as in tactics, the back way is where the real intel lives.
Sometimes the goal isn’t to move faster; it’s to stay open enough to see what everyone else drives past.
So if you’re always chasing direct routes, you’ll miss the hidden roads that change everything.