Business performance can be adversely affected by distractions. Those distractions lead to excess effort being expended in areas not crucial to the business when that effort could have been expended to help the business grow. Thus, reducing those distractions can good for the business.
An example of this is discussed in the May 27, 2025 Wall Street Journal article “Angry Elon Is Back. That’s Good for Tesla” by Tim Higgins. The article describes Elon Musk as angry for various reasons such as “some people used his politics as an excuse to attack Tesla.”
The article says, “Angry Elon could be a very good thing for Tesla investors. It can focus him on executing.” The article goes on to say that “investors haven’t seen Musk execute in a while.” Regarding those investors, the article says, “They’ve seen profitability shrink and sales fall for the first time in more than a decade. Worrisome stuff to investors concerned Musk has been too distracted in Washington.” But, the article points out that Musk’s situation is changing. It says, “Since announcing April 22 that he would pare back his time in the Trump administration, Tesla shares have risen 43%.”
This reflects the fact that time spent in Washington was a distraction for Musk. It kept him away from running his businesses. Distractions can lead to weaker business performance.
So, the lesson here is that it is important to focus on the business. Getting distracted can easily have a detrimental impact on the business. The increase in Tesla’s stock price now that Musk’s Washington stint is ending can signal that investors believe his return is good for the business. Nonetheless, it can be a challenge to reverse consumer perceptions that emerged while he was away.
In conclusion, remember that distractions can interfere with the business.
