Big changes in business happen through careful thinking.
I was reminded of this last week when one of my business-owner friends came to me with a very worried look on her face.
She had what she felt was an intractable problem. We sat down and started to talk it through.
We broke it down and started by getting clear on what, specifically, she wanted to achieve and why, and then how she wanted it to happen.
It took us over an hour but at the end of it we had a way forward that was better than either of us could ever have imagined.
But it only happened because we thought… and talked. We asked ourselves the right questions, and then worked out the best answers.
We didn't assume or shortcut it. Big change doesn't happen through short-cuts or assumptions.
Too many business owners limit their thinking to what they think they should be doing rather than what they actually want to be doing.
Sure, they're well intentioned, but the result is they’re not 100% committed. They’re not properly thought-through and they fall short. Repeatedly.
Thinking is hard. It requires effort. And support.
All my best ideas come when I’m bouncing things around with others. My best starter question: ‘what would the best in the world look like…?’
That one gets you thinking right out there. I mean, the BEST in the world. Not just ‘fairly good’, or ‘best we could do’ – but best in the world. Makes you think.
Forces you to think. Differently.
I promise you, thinking is vastly underrated in business and I'd urge you to find time – and a place – to do some high quality thinking this week.
And every week. It's the closest you'll get to a silver bullet.
If there’s something in your business that needs addressing (there definitely is, by the way) then find half an hour this week to think about it properly. Without distractions. Just think.
Think about it deeply. Involve someone else and you'll get even better quality of thought.
Don't fret about the future. Just think more...
