FailingCompany - Back to the Basics

Have you ever suffered from indecision? Indecision doesn't seem to hit with big decisions. It seems to creep in with even the smallest decisions, like where to eat or which pair of shoes to buy. We get so hung up on trying to make the BEST decision, that we don't make any decision at all.

What's interesting is that when indecision sets in on one seemingly small thing, it begins to infect other decisions like a virus. Like a virus, it spreads rapidly and can bring you to a grinding halt, leaving you wondering what happened. It's really mind blowing how getting hung up on making on small and ultimately insignificant decision can have such a negative impact on your overall productivity!

I've noticed this recently while planning for a backpacking trip. Needing to pick up some new gear, I was looking for high quality lightweight supplies for the trip. I found myself wasting far too much time researching multiple options and evaluating every possible aspect for each piece of gear I wanted to buy. I invested hours in reading reviews and watching product videos, thinking that was being a smart consumer. In reality I was suffering from the indecision virus, found myself with decisions stacking up and I hadn't actually bought any of the gear yet.

Had I just found something reasonable and bought it, I could have moved on to the next thing I needed to get. It may not have been the BEST of each piece of equipment, but it certainly would get the job done. I would have had everything purchased and ready to go with time left to focus on more important things. Yet here I sit forcing myself to do just that now that I've wasted lots of time first. Indecision certainly can be as debilitating as a virus!

The time that I wasted due to indecision didn't affect just preparing for my backpacking trip. I had other things that I needed to get done before I leave on my trip. These things have stacked up too because I spent far too much time researching gear. Looking at my calendar and seeing the days disappear behind me, I'm now forced to break the cycle of indecision so I can move on and get everything done before I leave.

A single virus may first manifest in the body as a sinus infection. However, it can and does spread. Soon you may have an ear infection and upper respiratory infection from the same virus. Indecision works exactly the same way. My indecision with purchasing gear spread into a delay in completing important stuff totally unrelated to the backpacking trip. Once it starts to spread, it must be stopped quickly.

Indecision hits in business in the same cruel way. It starts out small. Perhaps it's trying to pick which web hosting company to use for your new website or which supplier to pick for a certain raw material when both are equally good. You get so hung up trying to decide the BEST choice that other decisions, often more important, begin stack up. Before you know it, you're delayed on making a critical decision on a new product launch and lose a competitive advantage. All because you couldn't pick a web hosting company and move on. There's a huge opportunity cost associated with this vicious cycle, and none of us are immune.

There's no magic pill to cure indecision. We can, however, be mindful of our actions and notice when we start spending too much time on making key decisions. Sometimes it's helpful to time box decisions. Give yourself a deadline to make a decision, then make it and don't look back. Otherwise, you may end up with buyer's remorse or regret, which is just as bad as indecision.

Time boxing decisions allows you to focus all of your time on a key decision for a set amount of time. Having a deadline forces your focus in on the critical aspects of the decision that are really most important to you. A silly example for me was me trying to decide between two different boots that were only a few ounces different in weight. I was so concerned about cutting weight that I lost sight of the more important decision criteria, which was overall fit & comfort of the boot. Had I time boxed my decision, I would have simply bought the most comfortable boots and moved on, even if they were 2 or 3 ounces heavier than the pair I didn't buy. I could have then moved on to other things and not looked back.

Focusing on what's really important is just as important as time boxing decisions. We suffer from information overload nowadays. We can consider a huge number of variables in just about any decision because we have an abundance of information or data to analyze for each of those variables. Are each of those variables equally important? Not at all. You must narrow down your decision criteria to those items that are really valuable to you. Forget about the others because maximizing those variables add no value to the decision.

Having narrowed down the decision criteria to the few critical things and given yourself a deadline to make a decision, you've now positioned yourself to break the indecision cycle. Now, you can approach the decision with a new clarity and relief in knowing that one way or another, the decision will be made by a certain date and you and forget about it after that. You may even find that the decision becomes very clear and that you feel a little silly for waffling for so long over making it. If that happens, just forgive yourself. It happens to all of us!

I'm sure that there are other more scientific ways to either avoid indecision or break the cycle when it sets in. If you have a better way, then definitely stick with it. However, if you're like me and just need a quick and dirty way of getting out of the rut, this simple two step approach works pretty well. Try it out next time you get bogged down and see a list of decisions stacking up. It just may help you out!

Have you finally worked through a list of decisions and need to enlist some help to get stuff done? Maybe you're struggling with identifying the right criteria for a key decision for your business and need some expert advice? Check out FailingCompany.com to find the help that you need. Go sign up for an account or log in to your existing account and start working with someone today.

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Well, we've now seen another St. Patrick's Day come and go. It's always a fun time of year for me, so happy belated St. Patrick's Day!! For me, St. Patrick's Day also means parade season. Our annual St. Patrick's parade is always a community hit and draws a crowd of around 100k people to the roughly mile long parade route. Today I thought I'd share a little behind the scenes insight about the parade. A St. Patrick's parade doesn't have to be JUST about floats, green beer, shamrocks and leprechauns, right?

The average parade attendee shows up to the parade route, finds parking, picks out a spot to watch the parade pass by and settles in to enjoy the show. What he or she doesn't see is the months of planning and preparation that goes into getting a parade ready to run. It's an intense couple of months of working with the city to get permits, securing police & security, lining up sponsors, staging the floats appropriately, getting porta potties strategically placed, etc. Lots of small little details that most never notice. It all looks seamless and fun to the spectator, which is how we like it!!

The parade doesn't plan itself. It takes a village to put on a parade. There has to be one person, a parade coordinator, in charge to keep everyone organized. However, that person cannot do it all him or herself. The coordinator simply doesn't have the time or expertise! The parade would never be ready to go if it were a "one man show." The coordinator must build a solid team then trust the team to know what they need to do, make the right decisions and complete their work on time. No different than any other project that you may have in-flight in your own business right now.

The success of the parade, or any other project for that matter, directly depends on putting the right leaders in charge, building teams of people who know what needs to be done and will do so without micromanagement and getting out of the way to let the team execute. Sounds simple, but it's usually more of an art than a science when it comes to putting the team in place and knowing when & how to engage from a leadership perspective.

We're lucky enough to have some amazingly capable people who volunteer for our parade and a phenomenal parade coordinator pulling it all together. Just as important, we have leadership that knows the importance of clearing the way to let those people do what they do so well!! It's because of these things that the parade has been a success for the past 50 years. It truly is a great example of a high performing team!

Take this lesson and think about your own company. Do you have the right people in leadership positions? Do you have the right team members ready to do their parts to complete a project? Do they know exactly what to do? Do you, as the top leader, stay out of their way and let them execute? If you answered yes to all of these, then congratulations! You're a rare breed. If not, then I encourage you to start making some changes.

Do you have a team that could knock out a 160+ unit parade for 100k+ spectators in a couple of months? Perhaps you find yourself feeling the need to jump in and "help" the team out a little too much? Check out FailingCompany.com to find the help that you need. Go sign up for an account or log in to your existing account and start working with someone today.

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I write a lot about being ready for change and adapting to the current business environment. Not all change is a result of shifts in market, industry or consumer demand and yet it can be just as impactful to your business. I experienced an example recently that's worth using for this article. Are you sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation yet? Good!

You can scour market data, trade journals, and attend conventions to keep on top of trends in your industry. You can plan for these things. You can even set your business up to run efficiently without you. These are very important things to do if you want a resilient business. What about risks of nature? Do you plan for those?

We recently had a band of very nasty weather move through our area. It left a path of destruction behind. Wide-spread power outages, flooding, downed trees, property damage, etc. The wind remained strong well into the evening after the main front passed through, resulting in even more power outages and making it difficult of the power companies to keep up. This storm single handedly dictated how hundreds, if not thousands, of local residents would be spending their weekends.

Some homeowners were prepared with chainsaws, generators, flashlights & lanterns with plenty of batteries, etc. Others were literally left in the dark. Either way, their focus was on recovery. What the heck does this have to do with business, you say? Everything! Let me explain.

Mother nature can affect your business in both direct and indirect ways at almost any moment. Completely out of the blue. If you're unprepared, then expect to incur a loss of revenue, loss of business equipment & property, damage to buildings, etc. You must be prepared and that doesn't mean getting an insurance policy and forgetting about it.

Most businesses depend on employees to keep things operating smoothly. This is particularly true for just about any direct-to-consumer business such as retail stores, gas stations, grocery stores, etc. What happens when your employees are directly impacted by natural events and can't make it into work? They are too busy cutting up downed trees that have their vehicles blocked or are cleaning up their flooded house? How will you manage?

As a good leader, you'll have compassion for them and understand that they need to take care of things at home. They would be too distracted at work to be effective anyway. That may leave you understaffed to the point that you have to close your doors for a few days. Will you survive? Or, do you have a business continuity plan to put into action?

Businesses, like individuals, must have emergency response plans. These are often called business continuity plans. You must be able to weather natural disasters that significantly disrupt your business. You must also be able to survive for a period of time without any revenue coming in. Natural disasters happen! Depending on where you live it could be a tornado, hurricane, flooding, earthquake, windstorm, ice storm, blizzard, mud slide, wildfire, etc. All of these have the potential to temporarily shut your business down. The only way that you survive is to plan for it.

Plans for an emergency may include holding onto enough cash to cover lost revenue for a pre-determined amount of time. This is an excellent start. It may also include plans to shift work to temporary workers in another location where possible. This may involve an arrangement with a contractor to serve as a failover for specific work. It should also include cross training employees on various jobs so that those who are unaffected by the disaster can step in to where help where needed. It could even include prearrangements to lease temporary office space in a different part of town if access to your business becomes restricted.

Each business is different and has its own unique set of needs. The key is to be identify those needs now and build plans to address failure points while things are calm. You don't want to be building a plan in the middle of a disaster. It never works out well.

When you're planning, think about all aspects of your business. Plan to do whatever you can even if it's not perfect or even optimal. I saw a great example of this after the main storm front went through.

My electric was out but was otherwise well prepared, so I decided to head to an outdoor store that was running a huge warehouse sale that weekend. The store had temporarily leased space in another building to hold the sale and the place was full of people. Shortly after I got there the building lost electric. Surprise!!

The leased space didn't have backup generator. However, the business had a plan to control what it could. Their cash registers, credit card machines and supporting internet connection were all on robust backup systems. The store didn't miss a beat. Customers were literally shopping by the lights on their cell phones and the natural light coming in through the windows. The employees kept ringing up the sales and swiping cards!

The other businesses in the strip mall building were all dark and locked up. They didn't plan ahead and had to shut down. Lost revenue for them. This business lost very little, if any, revenue. Actually, being and outdoors store, the customers seemed to be sort of energized by the situation. They may have even bought more than they would have, due to the novelty of the experience.

This could have been a substantial business loss, as the business had to pay to lease that separate space for the weekend whether it was used or not. Due to some basic planning ahead, it wasn't an issue at all. That's the benefit of business continuity planning in action!

Need help setting your business up to weather the storm? Maybe you have a great business continuity plan and want to find some companies to contract with as a failover option? Check out FailingCompany.com to find the help that you need. Go sign up for an account or log in to your existing account and start working with someone today.

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They say that change is the only constant. I believe that's absolutely true. Change keeps us on out toes and that's a good thing. How so, you say?

Change is the natural enemy of complacency. When things remain status quo for too long, we get complacent. We stop learning and growing. We don't push ourselves and get too comfortable. What happens when water pools up and just sits there? It becomes stagnant and stagnant water gathers bacteria and other bad stuff that makes it unsafe to drink. Water must always be moving to be healthy and reach its maximum potential. The same goes for us.

Staying at a job longer than you should or doing the same type of work for too long simply isn't good for you. You can do the job with your eyes closed and you end up like a zombie. The same applies if you run your own business and your business runs exactly the same now as it did 5 or 10 years ago. There's no growth there and no movement with you. You're coasting through life and that's not the way to achieve your maximum potential.

You may say that you spend your free time reading books and learning new things. That's great! Are you applying anything that you learned? If not, then you're simply procrastinating and wasting time. You're fooling yourself! What good is the knowledge if you don't use it? It's like a beautiful sports car that you won't drive because you don't want to put miles on it. What a waste!

The interesting thing about life is that it has a way of nudging us in the right direction. Stick around long enough and something will force a change for you. Perhaps your company decides to exit the line of business that you've spend your last 10 years working in or the economy forces a downsizing. New products and services are created that make the products or services that you know so well obsolete. Heck, maybe an entirely new industry is created which makes you, an expert in your industry, a dinosaur. How do you handle that? How many of you still have a land line and an answering machine?

The reality in this life is that you can either change or eventually you'll be forced to change. You need to always be open to considering other ways of doing things, other products or services to offer, new skills to develop or entirely new industries to explore. That may seem scary to you. Maybe you're thinking that you're too old or simply can't learn the new skills. What will you do when you're backed into a corner and MUST learn those new skills or switch industries when you're "too old"? You'll figure out how to do it. Why? Because you have no choice. Life made the decision for you. Why not be in a position to change on a moment's notice without overwhelming fear and anxiety?

Become a change machine. It's always good to protect the core of your business since it's your bread and butter, but get creative at the fringes of your business. Get comfortable changing things that won't sink the ship. Maybe it's trying out new technologies to automate administrative tasks, exploring companies to outsource things that aren't part of your core competency or simply trying new types of marketing. Whatever it is, make change such a part of your routine that it feels strange when things remain constant for too long.

Doing this may seem extreme. You may be saying to yourself, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." That's resistance or downright laziness. This is about building muscle memory. You're strengthening your change muscle. This makes you adaptable and that is a critical skill. It makes you Murphy proof!

What does Murphy proof mean? Murphy as in Murphy's aw. Murphy's law states that "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." The interesting thing about Murphy's law is that it seems to target the unprepared. The stagnant. That person with no back up plan. The person who is so entrenched in what they are doing that their world will be totally rocked if they can no longer do that work. That's Murphy's playground. Murphy doesn't like to chase those that are constantly moving and changing because it's too difficult to keep up. A stationary target is always harder to hit than a moving target. Always be changing and growing. Stay moving!

Think I'm being extreme? Maybe so, but I urge you to do your own research. You'll see that just about every industry has the potential to be turned upside down in the next 10 year. Technology is advancing at incomprehensible rates and the capability of artificial intelligence is simply mind boggling now. There's almost nothing that you do in your business that an AI robot can't do better now or won't be able to do better in the next 10 years. You must get comfortable learning and testing this stuff out so that you can leverage it as an early adopter and build a competitive advantage. Otherwise, you'll become another statistic as the technology tears through your industry like an F5 tornado ripping its way through a forest turning mighty trees into splinters.

Have you been too stagnant and need help preparing for change? Are you a change machine and want to find some experts with which to partner? Check out FailingCompany.com to find the help that you need. Go sign up for an account or log in to your existing account and start working with someone today.

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