If...?

Growth Series (Part 11)

The Growth series will posted on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays through the month of October 2011. 

If I were to back a truck up to your door loaded with quality producers ready to work for you, would you have a problem?

When I have posed this question to business owners in the past, I often see many reactions.

• Concern over the space, staffing and support that will be needed.
• Excitement at the prospect akin to winning the lottery.
• Anticipation of the impact to the business.

Some even started to voice their concerns and the problems they envisioned. But the real answer is “No.” If given a problem with an upside opportunity placed in your hand, you will find a solution for the problem so that it does not evaporate.

One of the greatest challenges in growth is overthinking the “If” factors. This is really misspent time and effort because, until you take action and make something happen, there is no “if” to be concerned about. It is more of trip into distraction.

If the problem presented in the scenario was space, you would find the space if it was really needed and quickly. It would force you to evaluate your options and the cost very quickly even if it was an interim solution to buy you time. This efficiency in thinking and action is always there but we become insulated and, to a degree, complacent in requirements that are not immediate and where the benefit is not tangible. Whether the pressure is driven by positive or negative forces we often perform at our best under stress.

In some ways, we are like athletes who train to win but if not in competition and actively honing their skills, they too, become rusty and sometimes slow. But the spark is still there waiting to be ignited and challenged. The desire to win and overcome obstacles never really dies. It is simply overcome by routine and often an exhaustion that comes from fighting skirmishes that will not win the war.

To grow our companies and obtain the results we know are possible, we must not take the easy road. We must challenge ourselves to the path less traveled for it is there we find the treasure. Our problem solving becomes more intuitive based in experiences where we are tested. Challenges are a call to action where under stress and need we can draw on our training in which we have gained experience, knowledge and the taste of wins we have scored.

We must keep our entrepreneurial spirit and skills fit and ready so that we smell and seek opportunity like a hunter who smells prey. We must fight the drifting into paralysis that “if” can cause.

As I write this, a quote from Yoda of the Star Wars trilogies comes to mind. "No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."