There is a phenomenon in motorcycle racing that every rider learns about—usually the hard way—long before they ever master it. It’s called Target Fixation.
It works like this: You are coming into a corner too hot. Maybe you missed your braking marker, or maybe the asphalt is a little slicker than you thought. Suddenly, your brain screams that you aren’t going to make it. You lock your eyes on the one thing you don’t want to hit—the guardrail, the gravel trap, the wall.
And because you are staring at the wall, your body subconsciously steers you right into it.
Your hands follow your eyes. It is biological, primitive, and terrifying.
In my time on the track, I’ve learned that the only way to survive that moment is to fight every instinct you have. You have to physically rip your eyes away from the danger and force yourself to look at the exit—the open piece of track where you want to be.
If you look at the wall, you hit the wall. If you look at the exit, you survive.
In my work as a strategist at Spade Design, I see business leaders hit the wall every day. Not because they aren’t talented, but because they are staring at the problem so intently that they steer their entire company into a crash.
The Business Equivalent of “The Wall”
In the boardroom, target fixation looks like “tunnel vision.”
It happens when a founder becomes obsessed with a specific metric that’s tanking, a competitor who is “stealing” market share, or a product launch that failed. The panic sets in. The adrenaline dumps.
Just like on the bike, the biological response is to focus entirely on the threat.
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“We’re losing revenue.”
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“This review killed us.”
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“We have to cut costs now.”
When you fixate on the “crash,” your strategic decisions become reactive. You start slashing marketing budgets (cutting the throttle) when you should be leaning in. You obsess over matching a competitor’s feature set instead of doubling down on your own Brand Strategy.
You are steering toward the wall.
Why We Panic-Steer
Psychologically, humans are designed to prioritize immediate threats. It’s a survival mechanism. But in high-stakes environments—whether that’s a chicane at Laguna Seca or a Q4 board meeting—that mechanism is fatal.
When you focus on the problem, you lose Peripheral Awareness. In racing, this means you don’t see the rider passing you on the outside. In business, it means you miss the market shift that could actually save you.
Example: Blockbuster Video target-fixated on late fees. They looked at their revenue sheet, saw that late fees were a huge percentage of their profit, and obsessed over protecting that income stream. They were staring at the wall. Meanwhile, Netflix was looking at the exit: Streaming.
How to Look Through the Turn
So, how do you break the fixation? The process on a bike is identical to the process in business.
1. Acknowledge the Panic
You cannot correct a slide if you pretend you aren’t sliding. The first step is admitting, “We are in trouble, and I am freaking out.” This self-awareness breaks the trance. It allows the logical part of your brain to take back control from the lizard brain.
2. Snap Your Head (The Physical Reset)
On the track, I literally have to jerk my helmet sideways to look away from the crash. In business, you need a “physical” reset.
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Step away from the data dashboard.
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Cancel the emergency meeting that’s going in circles.
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Go for a walk.
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Action Step: If you are spiraling, change your environment immediately. It forces your brain to recalibrate.
3. Find Your Reference Points
When you are lost in a corner, you look for “reference points”—marks on the track that tell you where you are. In business, your reference points are your Core Values and your Mission. Ask yourself: “Why did we start this company?” and “Who are we serving?” If your decision doesn’t serve the user or the mission, it’s just panic-steering.
4. Look Where You Want to Go
This is the golden rule. Your business goes where your eyes go. Instead of saying, “How do we stop losing money?” (Fixating on the loss), ask, “How do we add more value to our top clients this month?” (Looking at the growth).
Reframing the question changes the destination.
The Role of the “Coach” (Or Consultant)
The hardest part about target fixation is that you often don’t know you’re doing it. You think you are “focusing on the problem,” but really, you are just staring at the accident.
This is why racers have coaches, and why founders need Strategic Partners.
A good consultant is the person standing on the sidelines who can see the whole track. They aren’t in the panic loop with you. They can grab your helmet, turn your head, and say, “Stop looking at the wall. Look at the exit.”
At Spade Design, we often come into companies that are in a “slide.” They are obsessed with a bad website conversion rate or a failed ad campaign. We help them lift their eyes to the bigger picture—the Customer Journey and the long-term brand equity.
The Ride Continues
The next time you feel that tightness in your chest—when a client leaves, or a project goes sideways—pause. Notice where you are looking. Are you staring at the debris? Or are you looking for the opening?
The wall doesn’t move. But you can. Look up. Lean in. Roll on the throttle.
