Great article. In a business perspective, it suggests that you need to hire employees with a diverse way of thinking, allow them to interact extensively but to ultimately match different types of thinkers with appropriate duties.
Two brains that work differently are better than two that work in the same way.
Source: ADHD, Creativity, and the Concept of Group Intelligence | Psychology Today
If you make these decisions consciously, you can literally change the course of your life today.
Source: The 3 Decisions That Will Change Your Financial Life | Observer
McDonalds has had the Quarter Pounder on its menu for decades. It sounds impressive. A full quarter pound of beef! While clearly not as impressive the Big Mac, the Quarter Pounder certainly must be a respectable burger. . . . . . . as long as you don’t do the math. A quarter pound of beef is 4 ounces. I did a little research and found several BBQ themed sites suggesting that 4 ounces is a typical patty size. Of course, they go on to say that a single patty burger is good for kids and adults with lighter appetites. Burger joints and steak houses start to highlight the size of their burgers once they hit 6 to 8 ounces. So the impressive Quarter Pounder is really more of a typical burger . . . . . at least for kids and adults with lighter appetites.
To be clear, I’m not saying that the 4 ounce burger at McDonalds is brilliant. It is the name, i.e. “Quarter Pounder,” that is brilliant. Pound don’t do math, especially at lunch. Fractions aren’t inherent in our normal thought process. By giving the 4 ounce burger an impressive sounding name, McDonalds has been able to influence its customer’s thought processes.
Don’t get me wrong. This post isn’t bashing either McDonald’s food or their manipulative tactics. I’m a champion of continual learning from any and all sources. In this case, what can we learn from a McDonald’s burger? Great question. From a perspective as a Business Coach, this concept of giving something a name can be a powerful tool for my clients. It can be used in both positively naming a goal and negatively naming an obstacle.
By naming certain things intentionally and purposefully, we can either empower the positive or weaken the negative. For example, there is a great video of Tony Robbins working with a stutterer. Tony has the client visualize the powerful self he wants to be and the client named it “The Warrior.” The client assigned every positive thing he wanted to be into The Warrior. When the client felt weak, he would remind himself that he was The Warrior. In a similar way, clients can name their procrastinating tendencies and when they feel they are procrastinating, they can tell themselves to stop being . . . . . whatever they named those tendencies.
Most of my clients come to me with a goal of growing either their company’s sales or their personal earnings. Other than that, they rarely have other goals. At least, rarely do they know how they want to grow. Frequently, they don’t know why they want to grow. More is simply more and that is enough.
One of my first client exercises is an attempt at getting my clients to understand their “why,” their reason for growth. This process is usually a series of questions, forcing my clients to make trade offs and to imagine how they would feel with various outcomes. Understanding their “why” has helped many of my clients to make wiser tradeoffs and to focus their efforts on what they really want.
Unfortunately, not everyone can go directly to discovering their why. Their lives and thoughts are simply too cluttered to make an honest assessment of their lives. While some people aren’t able to see the forest for the trees, some aren’t even able to see the trees yet for all the leaves. Their focus is locked too tightly on the minutia for them to every truly understand their whys. Therefore, I have found that a powerful first step in discovering someone’s reason for growth is to de-clutter their lives, their schedules and their thoughts. I encourage them to aim at small targets, the low hanging fruit, and look at their lives through a DIME mindset. That is look at each task in their lives and Delegate, Improve, Minimize and/or Eliminate. Once they have done a DIME process on their lives, they have more time and energy to focus on the big picture.
I once reviewed a company’s sales team. The team was easily divided into two groups. One was very successful. One was not. After speaking with the two groups, it was easy to see what differentiated the teams.
One team’s general philosophy was, “I made ten calls today. I didn’t make any sales. I’ll call ten more tomorrow.” The other team’s general philosophy was, “I made ten calls today. I didn’t make any sales. I’ll call ten more now.” Can you guess which group was more successful?
Yes. Luck does play a part in success but you can’t control luck. You can control the amount of effort you put into a task and the quality of that effort. The better prepared you are, the less necessary luck is to your success.
This is true in sales and it is true in every aspect of your success.
Maintaining your motivation and drive during your transition from employee to entrepreneur is crucial.
Your company’s goals will only be effective if you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve–and how.
This article is correct. Many small businesses face these common challenges: Finances, Time and People.
Frequently there is an underlying cause to each of these, i.e. the owner. Many owners get started, made it off the ground and then stall out. The owner doesn’t know what to do next or is fearful that change will ruin what achieved her initial success. This stops many otherwise capable owners from achieving their dreams. This is also where a coach can help. Business coaches can help entrepreneurs identify what works, where more effort needs to be spent and how to overcome obstacles to success.
Reach out for a free strategy session.
Small business owners wear many hats and make many decisions each day. Most of these decisions are small and they have minor impacts. Some, however, are common to most small businesses and can
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