So, What Isn’t Working? I know from my own experience that denial and magical thinking are very strong tendencies in business. Take me, for example. In my typical “go for broke” habit, I can do both denial and magical thinking at the same time: I’ll never forget the moment of clarity when I realized that the marketing I was (crazily) doing wasn’t working, and I kept telling myself that things were just about to change, even though I struggled that way for a year.
How fun. Now, it’s true, you can’t judge a marketing effort in the first week, month, or even three months- it takes time to build up steam. But after a year, it was time to wake up.
The most expensive thing in your business is not your mistakes, it’s not FACING your mistakes. And yet, never losing faith in the mission you are on.
Two quick stories to illustrate this: The first one many of you may have heard, it’s called the Stockdale Principale. Admiral Stockdale was the highest ranking US military officer held as a POW during the Vietnam War. He held on for years, and helped the other prisoners hang on to their morale through that time. What he said about it was, and if I’m not quoting exactly, please forgive me, “You know who didn’t make it? The optimists. The ones who kept saying ‘We’re going to be home by Christmas.’ And then Christmas would come and we weren’t home. It breaks your heart. I kept saying, ‘We’re going to get home, but it won’t be by Christmas.’ ” (This story is told in Good to Great by Jim Collins- highly recommended.)
This to me illustrates, in the most extreme way, (hopefully your business doesn’t feel like you’re in a POW prison), that you keep your eye on the goal, but don’t get attached to what it looks like.
The second story is this: in Australia, two police officers were tape-recorded by reporters insulting an Aboriginal person, and then printed it in the newspaper. Huge political blowup. The Minister of Justice wanted told the police chief to be careful about what he said to the press, and to fire the two officers. Instead, the police chief said “I must tell the truth, and the truth is this: those two policemen are not an exception. The rest of the police could have done the same. But I will tell you more. The rest of the population of my region of Australia could have done the same as well. We are becoming racists.”
Fallout was huge, but in the end, because the truth was in the light of day, it was the Minister of Justice who was fired, and the police in that area became the best in Australia. (related in a past issue of Yes Magazine, by Marc Luyckx. Highly recommended magazine.)
In our spiritual journey in business, the ugly truths of our lives can be the hardest things to face, and yet, that is where the biggest opportunity for growth is found, both in our soul, and in our bottom line.
In my own story of denial and magical thinking, I finally got the perspective, and stopped taking coaching from someone who wasn’t helping me, listened to my own heart, stopped beating myself up, and launched myself in a completely different path. The result- my business doubled, and I was happier. And the deep satisfaction was that I was able to find truly what my heart was wanting to do in my work, and that has made all the difference.
Take the time to do, as the twelve-steppers put it, “a fearless inventory,” of your business. Let yourself look at everything in the light of your heart, and in the light of day. What needs to be done, or not done, will emerge naturally, but not if you don’t take the time to look.
