Slow The Game Down

Athletes at their peak performance say that the game slows down. They see things as if they were moving in slow motion which enables them to see the entirety of what’s happening with greater clarity.

Many business owners feel that they are constantly scrambling to keep up…that they’d love to have time to really reflect on their business and the direction they’re headed. Let’s talk about why these feelings persist and how you can “slow the game down” in your business so that you can alleviate the feelings that you’re constantly scrambling.

Let’s begin by examining why we feel that we’re always scrambling.

Why you’re scrambling

Here are a few of the reasons why business owners feel that they’re scrambling to keep up. They are:

• Constantly reinventing the wheel.
• Afraid to delegate.
• Allowing technological changes to dictate their activities.

Let’s explore each of these in more detail.

Constantly reinventing the wheel

Some business owners enjoy treating every event as a new learning opportunity; others simply hate taking the time to document their processes. Whatever the reason, the lack of a defined process means that you’re going through the same learning curve over and over again. It also means that you can’t pass this work off to anyone else because they don’t have a process to guide them.

Absent the ability to pass items off your plate onto someone else’s plate, and feel comfortable that they’ll accomplish the work in the manner you would have, you inevitably must scramble to accomplish all the tasks on your plate.

Afraid to delegate

We humans have a difficult time trusting others, consequently, we are afraid to delegate. We are concerned that the task will be completed with the level of quality and timeliness with which we would have completed it.

While this is a natural tendency we all possess by virtue of our humanity, it’s one of the most detrimental tendencies we possess in that we lock ourselves into a heavier workload than we can manage…or any human being can manage on their own.

Allowing technological change to dictate activity

The rate of change in technology is mind boggling. Even those whose job is in technology find it difficult to keep up with all of the changes.

The real challenge for non-tech business owners is deciding which technological advances to adopt and which to forego. All too often business owners adopt new technologies to “keep up” without considering whether the new technology is going to help them improve their operating results. In other words, they are allowing technology direct their business efforts instead of choosing which technology is going to advance their business.

Now that we have a sense for why the game isn’t slowing down, let’s see how we can slow it down.

Slowing the game down

One of the simplest ways to slow the game down is to identify, then document processes that consistently produce good results. This enables you to more quickly complete tasks and, ultimately, pass these tasks onto others so that you can continue to devote your time and energy to developing even better approaches in the future.

Another way to slow the game down is to understand and embrace this simple concept: people live up to, or down to, your expectations. If you let your employees know that you believe that they possess the skills and abilities to make good decisions and produce great results, they won’t disappoint you. It’s human nature not to want to disappoint those who believe in us. Develop this trust mindset and you’ll enjoy a team that produces great results for you…even in your absence.

Evaluating new technology in terms of how it will help you achieve the goals you’ve already set, then choosing to employ only those technologies that will accelerate the achievement of your goals will slow the game down for you. You’ll avoid wasting time on technologies that aren’t going to help you achieve your business goals. It’ll also help you develop a healthier attitude toward technology.

Takeaways

The three suggestions above will help you can slow the game down dramatically. To help your employees slow the game down check out my Making The EXCEPTIONAL Normal program.

Resources

Making the EXCEPTIONAL Normal program helps you identify and nurture emerging leaders who elevate all around them to higher levels of performance and greater job enjoyment.

Financial Awareness & Strategy program where employees learn to identify opportunities to improve financial results and prioritize these opportunities on the basis of which produces the greatest impact with the least effort. Greater financial awareness = Better decisions.