You get in the car, fasten your seatbelt, turn the key in the ignition and head off down the right side of the road. You’ve probably been doing it since you were a teenager, so you don’t have to give it much thought. But what if you suddenly had to do it differently?

That’s the situation I found myself in a few months ago, driving a rental car around the English countryside on the left-hand side of the road. More than 1,300 miles in 10 days to be exact. According to worldstandards.eu, about 35 percent of the world—mostly old British colonies—drives on the left, a holdover from feudal days when mounted travelers wanted their sword arms facing oncoming opponents. The American colonies starting driving on the right-hand side soon after they won their independence as a way of breaking with their British past.

Initially, I found driving on the “wrong” side of the road challenging and quite unsettling. A lot was at stake, as my wife and youngest son were in the car with me. This was supposed to be a fun time exploring a new land! The first challenge was simply learning to drive on the wrong side. The real challenge came with navigating intersections, which is also different. The United Kingdom is known for not having stop signs, but rather roundabouts—which, of course, travel at the speed limit and in the opposite direction of those in the United States! Although at first I was nervous about getting confused and causing a fender bender (or worse), the more I drove around England, the more comfortable I got with driving on the left. In fact, it was more than comfortable. It was kind of fun to “translate” my driving skills from right to left. It felt good to navigate new challenges—like clockwise roundabouts—successfully.

I came back to the States with a deep sense of gratitude that none of my worst fears came to pass. The opportunity to drive on the left has also changed my experience of driving. I’m back on the right side of the road, but I don’t take any aspect of driving for granted. I find myself more focused, more aware, more in touch with what I’m doing.

When have you found it necessary to relearn skills or adjust to new requirements? How did you handle it? How did you get past the discomfort? The fear of failure? How did the process change your perspective? How did it make you and your organization stronger and more focused? And, perhaps most important, how has it shaped your attitude toward taking the kinds of risks that are necessary to drive forward — with the flexibility and skill to switch the path you are on?