What to stop can be as important as what to do!
Trying to do more and more can reach a limit.
Instead of trying to do more try spending some time cutting out things that just aren’t great. Looking at what your business is focussing on with a fresh set of eyes can sometimes reveal great opportunities to re-focus.
There are so many ‘good’ things to do we can easily get swamped with options. There is literally no time to address all the ‘good’ things we could be doing. At work without clear guidance your team will definitely be doing things they think are great but may actually be a distraction from the best option available.
Try to grab back some time and energy - STOP doing the ‘good’ things.
"Good is the Enemy of Great" - Jim Collins, from his book “Good to Great”, Jim explains how to "Stop Doing" hear.[link]
On a personal level this can include:- doing things just to keep busy, doing low value tasks first things in the productive morning hours, doing rush jobs instead of delegating, working on too many projects at once
At work ‘good' things to STOP you and your team doing will include
- doing work instead of finding customers - focussing on admin or operations and neglecting sales, marketing and strategy
- worrying - stop over thinking or looking for perfection, find the best solution and act
- over servicing customers - too much conversation or exceeding expectations unnecessarily
- selling products with poor margins - cull and make space for better products
- endless discussions - working hard to improve staff performance when they are just not suited to the role
Your role as the boss and leader of your organisation is to bring clarity, order and harmony. Continuing to find great products and match them to great customers.
Mindlessly launching into busy work, doing people’s jobs for them or concerning yourself with operational issues at the expense of securing your future is wrong.
Cut that out, delegate to the right people and free yourself up to perform your role effectively.