How We Defy Common Sense and Overcomplicate Our Business Lives
BySee if you recognize this treacherous
thought pattern because like ants in the summer,
it finds a tiny opening, squeezes in and takes over.
This is the first in a series in which we’ll
look at the many ways we unwittingly
over-complicate our businesses – and how to stop
and SIMPLIFY.
—
AND – since you registered for the 10-90 teleseminar recently,
there’s a special offer for you below.
—
“The medicine doesn’t work in our house.”
My 3 year old daughter complained that her ear hurt.
My wife dripped some drops into her ear and gave
her some Tylenol. “It still hurts,” she said
after swallowing the medicine.
“Give it some time,” said my wife.
An hour later, while at a neighbor’s house, my
wife asked how her ear was feeling. “Now it’s
better,” she said. “The medicine doesn’t
work in our house.”
One of those precious “from the mouth of babes” moments.
And yet that’s a mistake we often make in our
own businesses: We draw conclusions that REALITY
will refuse to support.
—
Here are some random examples:
An important prospect doesn’t reply to your
email and you worry he’s not interested.
Maybe. Maybe not. All we know is that we
didn’t RECEIVE a reply. We can’t even be sure
he didn’t reply. Perhaps his reply was snatched
as a tithe by the great cyber email-eater. Or,
thanks to the email program’s autocomplete
feature, it sped off to someone else who shares
your first name without your prospect realizing.
When we look at the EVIDENCE – the cold, hard
facts – all we see is that we expected a reply
and it hasn’t come. If we start ADDING MEANING
to the evidence, we abandon common sense and
distort reality.
—
Consider this scenario: Did you ever hire
someone you HOPED would do the job? You knew they
could to part of the job, and you HOPED they’d
do it all. But you really didn’t have a good
reason to believe it.
This is just another example of over-complicating
what really is simple. We don’t have evidence to
support what we want to believe and yet we march
forward in hopes that we can defy a natural law.
—
But WHY do we do this?
The first reason is we’re under a LOT of
pressure. Stress and pressure dumbs-down your
innate intelligence. We have an urgent need to
add an employee to our team. And so we let the
ants march right in…
The second reason lies at the STRUCTURAL level.
You need to train your mind to SEPARATE ISSUES.
Yes, you may have a desperate need for a new
employee. But that is one issue. Whether or not
you should hire THIS employee, is a decision of
its own.
—
The bottom line is that when you permit yourself
to only worry and fear things supported by the
cold hard facts, your business life will simplify.
That’s just REALITY.
—
DO THIS NOW because it’ll save you at least an
hour today. Think of a worrying situation and ask
yourself:
- “What conclusions am I tempted to draw?”
“What am I afraid will happen, or has
happened?” List them.
- For each item listed, ask: “Do I have
OBSERVABLE EVIDENCE to support this conclusion?”
- If the answer is “yes,” plan appropriate
preventive and contingent steps. If the answer is
“no,” then REFUSE to worry about it and
continue as before.
This five minute exercise will probably save you
days or weeks of worry and indecision.
And the medicine will work – also in your house.
—
As always, I invite you to reply with your
reactions.
Dov Gordon
dovgordon@gmail.com
+972-2-992-0396
www.DovGordon.biz/the-10-percent.htm
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2 Comments
December 18th, 2009 at 5:23 am
This is a powerful Life Lesson, one I’ve benefitted from in the business world – by coming at it from a different angle. Sometimes we need to know whom not to include on our client lists: folks who squeeze hard for free favors, imply debts not owed to them, doing whatever they can to override the good judgment and expertise of the consultant they hired. They are manipulative, lumping discrete issues into one indistinguishable, increasingly dangerous lump in order to force their desired (ultimately counterproductive) agenda!
I was burned a few times until I stopped doing business with anyone who ever tried to pressure me to work against my better judgment. In each case above, the client(s) lack(ed) observable evidence on which to base their claims. They rejected realistic assessments, and ignored verbal or written contracts. I erred at trying to accommodate those clients, later regreting those decisions. Manipulative tactics undermine the business at hand and the people being victimized.
I’ve been selective about the people with whom I work ever since. I only work with folks qualified to do their jobs and to benefit from my skills. That approach recently resulted in a full-time employment offer for my former consultancy work. I’m about to contact to become a staff member of a stable company already benefitting from my content-providing expertise. No more piece-work for me: full-time employment with a realistic employer a faces me now. And I retain the the freedom to consult as I wish.
Yocheved Golani http://www.linkedin.com/in/yochevedgolaniink
http://twitter.com/yochevedgolani
http://www.yochevedgolani.com and
http://itsmycrisisandillcryifineedto.blogspot.com/
December 23rd, 2009 at 11:32 am
Hi Yocheved,
Good luck with your new position! And thanks for your comment and sharing your experience.
Dov