We live in a world where everything is interconnected. What happens to the Chinese economy, European Union economy or Japanese economy has a direct impact on the U.S. economy, and subsequently, the global economy.

But we also live in a world where the general public's attention span is very short. Instant gratification is the norm, and today's unreal disaster is quickly yesterday's news.

From a business perspective, that's problematic. Shifting attention doesn't make a problem go away.

Albert Einstein once said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” You don’t need to be working on the theory of relativity to recognize that success demands perseverance.

For Einstein and other successful people, perseverance is driven by vision and belief: vision defines the goal; belief in oneself fuels it. Whether you’ve set your sights on actualizing an idea, cracking a code, or creating a more perfect self, vision plus tenacity leads to the full mind, body and heart engagement that perseverance requires.

There’s a second component to perseverance though, which comes not from within but from without. That is the willingness to unguardedly receive feedback. 

Have you ever been on the other side of the table, as a customer, and the salesperson was doing everything right? They had befriended you right from the start; instilled trust and confidence. They engaged you with questions to identify your needs and even customized a solution. You were having a good experience.

Then comes what I refer to as the MOT - the Moment Of Truth. Your salesperson attempts to close the sale and you resist for whatever reason. That's when you begin to notice a visible change in his or her behavior. It's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The more you resist, the pushier they become, to the point that all you want to do now is leave.

You are entering the dead zone for American business. And it has nothing to do with the recession or the rate of recovery from said recession.

It has everything to do with 67 basketball games – specifically the games that occur during the workday – and the employees who will do just about anything to sneak a peek at the games.

The NCAA Tournament is one of the most popular sporting events of the year, and one of the few major sporting events that overlaps the standard 9-to-5 workday. The first Thursday and Friday of the tournament features games from noon Eastern Time, continuing in a virtually unbroken procession until nearly midnight.

Employees will sneak into the break room or the conference room for a peek. They’ll keep tabs on their computers and Internet-compatible cell phones. They’ll check and update their brackets obsessively.