While at my last staff meeting, our Business Development Director, Ric, started talking about kicking off the New Year with a Team Strategy Session. Now this in and of itself wasn’t earth shattering news as our team has done numerous such sessions, but what he said next was. While he proceeded to talk about the usual things related to a strategy session he then added, “What are we going to do different?”
“Different.” Caught my attention, in a big way, and I’ll share with you why. If a person is successful, no matter what the endeavor, we may think, “Why change anything?” It’s obviously working, right? Well, the simple answer may be yes, but to answer yes would be, well, wrong. Let me give you an example of why.
If we stick to the same diet regiment, sooner or later we will plateau. Our body will adjust to the calorie intake by first losing weight quickly. Eventually we will reach a point where the weight loss will begin to slow and our bodies will match caloric input to output. When this happens, the weight loss stops and we find ourselves in a maintenance mode. Did we have success? Absolutely. But have we met our goal? Is there more improvement that can be done? Is the current diet the best approach to our overall health? All good questions that need to be answered. And these answers may require a different approach for continued success.
Running a business cannot sustain itself with a “business as usual” or “maintenance mode” approach. Rather, running a business means continuing the trend of success, not getting to a plateau and staying stagnant. Taking time to think about “different” will ensure that those plateaus in your growth are avoided. It will keep you aware of the realities of the business world, where anything can change in an instant. It will encourage new ideas and creative thinking. It will minimize lost opportunities. But, most importantly, it will build a better future for continued progress.
Keep it perpetual.