Some firm’s fiscal years start in November. Some firm’s fiscal years start in January. Every small business or family business must start each year as if it’s the first time.
With the start of each new fiscal year we must begin again. “Book a Sale — Save a Buck” no resting on laurels; the first month of a fiscal year equals the start of the game. We don’t often think growing pains when we think 50+ year old firm; but should we?
No not the TV sitcom, not the nocturnal adolescent pains that Mayo Clinic is uncertain what the cause is, growing pains in business comes in a number of species.
There’s the loss of sight, Damnum visus. This condition permits us to be inattentive to the basics. We fail to follow procedures; symptoms’ include quality and safety issues. There’s lazy and forgetful and segnis et oblita. Much has been written on the Hawthorne effect. Yet we know things improve when we pay attention to them. There are other scientific and physiological theories that help support this action; the Observer-expectancy effect, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle to name just two.
The more things change the more they stay the same, or as one writer stated, the more things change the more they stay insane!
Teams evolve by moving forward and every time we observe a behavior we blink. Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking is a 2005 book by Malcolm Gladwell. It presents in popular science format research from psychology and behavioral economics on the adaptive unconscious; mental processes that work rapidly and automatically from relatively little information. It considers both the strengths of the adaptive unconscious, for example in expert judgment, and its pitfalls such as stereotypes.
“Always expecting the worst” deprives one of the opportunity to learn. If one expects the worst, then what is to be gained from not getting it? Nothing.
When one expects the worst, they are also deprived of another opportunity and that is the opportunity for “HOPE”. Hope may be one of the best experiences available to us in life. It is what dreams are made of. It is what lands people on the moon and cures diseases and ends wars. It is a driving force that shapes lives, builds futures and makes our world a better place. Hope is what happy people have and do.
Hope encourages us. Expecting the worst does not. Hope energizes us. Expecting the worst does not. Hope uplifts us and the people around us. ge Expecting the worst does not.
Disappointment teaches, builds character and is quite often the best thing that could happen to us. Expecting disappointment or expecting the worst does not offer these benefits.”
As our teams evolve we must caution ourselves and beware of the Blink factor and automatically presuming the previous response, reaction or behavior. If you always expect the worse, you’ll never be disappointed. Perspective is a key to our success. Understand that part of our core customer service, customer issues create opportunity. Growing pains never stop, we are a work unfinished adding new products, new customers, new teammates are part of our positive perspective. Simply solid results; quality, safety and the other ROI-create trust and permit more investment-more expansion.
It is the voice of Life that causes us to learn!
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