April 9, 2020
ISSN# 1545-2646
Thinking it – Doing it – Feeling it
Before we were sequestered to our living spaces, I recently spent a few hours out on the golf course with my family enjoying a round of golf. I’m by no means a scratch golfer. I get the enjoyment of seeing all parts of the course, not just those from the middle of the fairway. I don’t share this with you to let you know about my golfing prowess. It is more about the process of each shot on the golf course and how by using this model you may elect to improve not only your golf game (if you play) but more importantly your business.
In golf there is a basic understanding of the object. Take the fewest number of strokes (hits of the ball) to move it from one starting point (the tee) to the hole at the end of each fairway (the putting green). Along the way you encounter various hazards such as trees, water, sand, long and short grass and who knows what else you may just so happen to end up next to or behind. Each of these natural or designed in features of the course require you to think about how you will overcome it with the least amount of additional strokes. Each time you prepare to hit the ball you stop, think through what you are about to try to do. You select a particular club (tool) to affect the best outcome. You then mentally prepare which proceeds the actual doing or hitting of the ball for the shot. Upon the execution of the shot, you then feel either great or disappointed in the outcome of the process. Golf is one of those activities which gives you fairly instantaneous feedback as to how well you took action and executed it for the best outcome.
If we take these same basic concepts and apply them to your business you can begin to see some similarities. The generally understood business concepts is to take your product(s) and or service(s) and move them from where they start in your business into the marketplace to the end point of use. You attempt to do this with the least amount of steps and cost so that your initial investment in raw materials or time is maximized thus generating profit. Along the path of moving your goods to market there are many obstacles which are in your way. Things like financing, staffing, marketing, acquiring clients, and many more. With each of these obstacles you think about the best route to overcome the challenge and then take action to put your decisions into motion. As your actions rollout you begin to get feedback as to how well the choices were as related to the outcome that is taking place. Unlike golf where once you hit the ball you can’t change the trajectory or direction of the ball. In business you can make some subsequent adjustments to your approach and hopefully reduce parts of the negative outcome of your earlier decisions. This by no means suggest to take actions before thinking. In fact you may be able to learn from golf. The better prepared you are prior to taking action, it will be less costly and likely more rewarding. Similar to golf, when you do make the right club choice, focus on the ball, execute the proper swing of the club and the ball ends up exactly where you planned it to be then your inner feelings are over the top. Business works the same way. When you take the time to properly think through a situation and take deliberate action of doing what you planned, you then are rewarded with a great inner feeling of best results and more success.
This week give yourself the time to think through the challenges which are in front of you and select the proper approach to take to overcome them so you can realize the best results. This will give you a rewarding feeling which in turn will bolster your confidence in making the next best shot for your business.
We don’t suggest you call JKL Associates for golf lessons, but we can definitely assist you in getting greater success out of your business. Give us a call at (313) 527-7945 in Michigan or (407) 984-7246 in Florida.