Business owners, for your sake and that of your company's, please stop bouncing around from one idea to another, one project to another, one fire-drill to another. You are driving yourself and your employees crazy. Also, while you're at it, stop chasing the business practice or management strategy "flavor of the week or month." If you keep leaping to new things, you can not make real progress when you don't drive existing ideas, projects or strategies to full implementation and completion. Besides, constantly jumping around will yield too much chaos, complexity, confusion, and craziness in your organization. Right now, times are crazy enough; don't complicate business management with a lack of focus, priorities and discipline.
Let's face some reality. Please don't blame your current chaotic, haphazard and hyperactive management style on your self-diagnosed case of ADD (attention deficit disorder). That is a real and serious condition which you probably don't have but use nonetheless as a convenient excuse. Your likely affliction is much more common among business owners but just a serious to the health of your company ... it's called Accountability Deficit Disorder. It's fairly easy for an objective outsider like a business coach to diagnose.
Here are some of the symptoms of Accountability Deficit Disorder. Employees are doing their own thing to a large extent with very little oversight and very little consequences for poor performance. There is little accountability in your organization and much chaos and disorder. Your organization jumps from one thing to another, confuses busyness with accomplishment, and excels at excuses instead of execution. Employees major in minor things that produce minor results. Vitally important things seldom get accomplished. Owners want to move on to new ideas, projects and strategies before the old ones have even been implemented. As they jump from one cable station to another at home with their remote control, they try to do the same with the business. They want a new program or strategy every minute. They want to change the view. Why?
Though they are hurting the organization, they think they are helping. They are searching for the quick fix, silver bullet, magic cure, panacea, and super solution. They don't realize that a good idea fully implemented today is far more valuable than a great idea partially or never implemented tomorrow. Also, owners generally don't like to be held accountable. By constantly jumping to new things (and driving employees crazy in the process), they aren't held accountable for the old things they did not implement. Owners also allow their employees to do the same thing ... jump to new tasks, new projects, new responsibilities, etc. without holding them accountable for implementing the old ones first. Sadly, a culture of excuses is tolerated instead of demanding a culture of results.
Your organization must face reality about where you are, have clarity of vision, have a game plan to get there, and on-going accountability to keep everyone on track, including the owner. Stop the madness. Do not allow ADD
(accountability deficit disorder) to take over your organization. Hold everyone accountable for executing on the plan and goals. Do not tolerate excuses. Demand results. Do not allow people to jump to the next thing without completing the last thing. Keep on course. Do not allow numerous detours. Stay focused and disciplined.
At The Growth Coach, we do not allow owners to spin their wheels and jump around ... we get them to be focused, strategic and effective. Our coaching process provides the on-going structure, discipline and accountability so that important things get implemented and completed. Our coaching process repeats on the strategic-focusing fundamentals so there is real growth, development and refinement. Without repetition, new mindsets, habits, and strategies can not take root. You can't keep jumping to the flavor of the day, week or month and make any real progress ... on-going coaching, accountability, and complete implementation of ideas, strategies, projects, and goals are what truly drive results.
Treat the real ADD in your organization, Accountability Deficit Disorder, before it is too late.
Daniel M. Murphy
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System