Sometimes it feels as though our business lives are like over-stuffed briefcases bursting at the seams. There are just too many new issues to address all at once. So how do business builders get by on a day to day basis? Ask any entrepreneur. Most would say with a sense of bravado, "I wing it!"

Winging it. There is glory for entrepreneurs who wing it and succeed. Essentially they are saying to their colleagues and confidents "I'm so good, I can wing it." They can take action without hesitation and usually get away with it. And as grand masters of entrepreneurial improv, if they don't know the answer to something, they will invent it on the spot.

So why is there such admiration among entrepreneurs for gut-reaction management? Some business builders actually feel more alive when they wing it. Without the oversight of a traditional boss, they can be as creative as they want to be, seemingly on their own time and terms.

There is another feeling among business builders -- the fear that their imagination and spontaneity will be roped in the second they lose their untethered frontier spirit. Afterall, many business builders left corporate jobs just to get away from business lives that were too predictable and confining.

In Henry David Thoreau's words, "Nothing can be more useful to a man than a determination not to be hurried." Well, many time-strapped business builders who operate on the fly would strongly disagree, "Great concept for sleepy Walden Pond, but not my world!" Really?

Tech-based business builders are especially prone to this fast-response attitude. When they face a problem, they don't panic, they patch. The truth is business builders don't always get the second chance to patch up poor presentations and first impressions. When it comes to raising money, investors say "No" a lot faster than "Yes." And, when it comes to new business development, what large company wants to partner with a quick-draw cowboy?

Winging it is fraught with risk -- exactly what professional investors, customers and new business partners try to avoid. Today, venture capital goes to scouts who are well prepared. They resist funding business builders who fly by the seat of their pants! Why? Because investors get banged up and bruised along the way. No one needs it.

As frustrating as it is to carry over your "to do" list from day to day, it is mild compared to the damage your business sustains from poor preparation for the things that matter. It's not a short cut to business success, it doesn't relieve stress and it doesn't really give you more time for other business needs.

Taking command of a situation isn't all about taking immediate action. Taking command of a situation should mean taking the time to understand the issue before taking action. Ideas get better with analysis. Presentations get better with practice. Mistakes are discovered earlier when you take the time to find them.

Instead of just getting by in business, you want to get ahead. This requires higher purpose thinking and preparation. Business builders have to learn to raise their energy level to resist being busy.

Thoreau was correct: "Nothing can be more useful to a man than a determination not to be hurried." He also could have said for the benefit of our fast-paced age: Nothing can be more useful to a business builder than a determination not to wing it.