Tweet

A Recipe for Gravity Suck and Staying Stuck

Guest post by: Rebel Brown

Article Overview: You hear a lot of advice from the so called experts. Defy Gravity! Be forward thinking! Be innovative! But what if you don’t want to? What if you like things just the way they are right now, and have no desire to make stratospheric leaps in your business or increase your results?

A Recipe for Gravity Suck and Staying Stuck

You hear a lot of advice from the so called experts. Defy Gravity! Be forward thinking! Be innovative! But what if you don’t want to? What if you like things just the way they are right now, and have no desire to make stratospheric leaps in your business or increase your results?

If you are one of those business owners or leaders who would prefer to stay right where you are, here’s a four ingredient recipe guaranteed to keep things “steady state,” or even reverse your progress and take you backward.

Print this out. Share it with your executive team. Refer to it often.

Don’t Have a Clear Vision

It’s critical that you don’t have a clear vision of your desired future. I know, there are lots of consultants and business books that tell you that a strong, clear vision will align your organization, will get people excited, will have them all going after the same thing.

But it’s a lot of work to develop one. It takes time—time you could use reinforcing the message of doing things the way you’ve always done them—because that’s what made you great, right?

And then you’d have to enroll people in the vision—another time consuming step. You’d have to get them so excited about the future that they’d want to jump out of bed every day, come in to work and give it their all. They’d be motivated and focused and work hard to move your organization toward that vision.

But who wants a team that’s that excited and motivated? You want them to just slog through their to-do list, to “put in their eight and hit the gate,” don’t you? That’s important, too, right?

Who has time for all this future-focused stuff? And how would you control all of that excitement and motivation? People would be bouncing off the walls. Who needs that?

Go After the Next Bright Shiny Object—It Could be “The One”!

Here’s some advice you’ll want to follow—don’t have a clear mission. Why focus on what it is you’re in business to do and to deliver?

After all, you can be all things to all people, can’t you? I’m sure you have the bandwidth to chase after all the latest trends and check out all the coolest stuff. I’m sure you have the resources to chase every bright, shiny object that comes along.

When your staff looks at you and asks how they’re supposed to get everything done, simply glare at them and say, “Just make it happen.”

So don’t be too focused on your business mission—you might miss something good.

Don’t Define Your Values as a Company

After all, that’s just the “warm and fuzzy” stuff. I know that Zappo’s is having extraordinary success being a values-driven organization. I know their employees made a video to talk about those values.

But you really don’t need a set of values. You’re already doing okay, aren’t you?

Yes, there’s lots of research that show that organizations driven by vision and values are the most successful companies on the planet. But come on. Do you really believe that? Warm and fuzzy doesn’t deliver hard core business results. And you’re hard core, right?

And, by the way—if some consultant does talk you into developing your core values, just put them on a poster and hang them on the wall. Don’t let them drive your decisions or your behavior. And don’t spread them around—your employees don’t really need to know much about them. Just keep them to yourself.



Hang on to the Power

It’s crucial that you be in the power position. You’ll want to make sure you control everything, you make all the important decisions by yourself, and nothing significant happens without your approval.

We all know what happens when we empower people and give them the authority to make decisions in their own sphere of influence. It’s chaos—people doing what they think is best, helping each other in any way they see fit, ignoring the four inch thick policy and procedure manual to go the extra mile for customers. How are you supposed to run a company where there’s that much disorder?

Better that all the power stays with you--one person, one decision maker, one place where “the buck stops.” All you, all the time!

My Guarantee

Here’s the deal. If you follow this recipe exactly—if you mix together these four ingredients in equal amounts—and you don’t stay stuck in the status quo, in the “same old-same-old” I’ll give you two more ingredients that will bog down your forward momentum even more. For free. No catch.

So mix up a batch of “Gravity Suck” and see what happens!

Related Articles
  What is Gravity?
  I Missed the Joy
  Growing in a Down Economy
  Gravity Happens
  My Own Worst Enemy
  3 Steps to Avoid Gravity
  Is Fear Making Your Decisions?
  Priorities
  Changing My Game
  My Own Personal Gravity
  Zero Gravity Business Principle # 5: Responsibility
  Horizons of Opportunity
  Zero Gravity Business - Expedia in Flight
  2 Sure Signs of Gravity Ahead
  Stuck in a Pigeon Hole
  1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back
  5 Critical Shifts for New Economy Success
  That Zero Gravity Instinct
  Recipe for a Great Life
  Recipes for Success

Article Tags: business books, business owners, desire, executive team, expert, gravity, leaps, motivated, organization, steady state, strong clear vision



Related Forum Posts
Re: What is your biggest challenge? Today? - Staying healthy is important as I get very little done when I have the flu. I basically shut down for a week to recover properly and continue to work hard.
Re: The Top 50 Productivity Blogs To Watch in 2010 - Thanks for that list Evan. I have bookmarked it to go through more carefully when I have some spare time. What you say here is so true, the biggest problem with working on the internet is that it is so easy to get side tracked. Staying focused is really the hard part. MichelleJ
Re: Free elecrtricity generator - Can anybody help me with any aspect of my invention? In basic terms it is the energy of Gravity conserved and reused = (Auto engaging and disengaging shafts) = perpetual motion Perpetual motion + static friction generated in a pipe = free static electricity Free static electricity converted to usable electricity = Free usable electricity Free usable electricity generated by the constant friction generated by an auto engaging and disengaging machine that conserves the energy of gravity in a overcrankable clock spring The weight is easilly lifted back up the shaft with the aid of a double pully on ropes
Re: How to Stay Motivated - Staying motivated is definitely hard. Especially when things get overwhelming and there are no immediate results. This is my personal approach. 1) Use a big white dry-erase board / piece of paper. 2) Pen down everything you need to do or in the process of doing. Point forms with dates. No need for excessive details. 3) Schedule a definitive period of time to relax (i.e. for the next hour and a half) 4) Jump back to working starting with number 1 on the white board! The best way is stay motivated to be organized, re-group then jump back in!
Getting Started In Your New Internet Business - I always think it’s fun and exciting to start a new Internet business. I know for me that I would do something that I’m interested and passionate about. Otherwise the new venture doesn’t last for long. As it’s just as important to have passion, motivation and interest, there are a few areas that help me succeed in business. Promoting Your Internet Business I would call this the “show me the money” part of the business. Without money or income, there is no business. Therefore it’s important to promote your business and turn your promotional activities into sales. At every opportunity, try to promote your business through passive means: e.g. through your stationary, letterheads, emails, brochures and any other promotional material you may use. Even if it’s just an article you write for a directory, remember to put your website address at the bottom of it. In the past, I made stickers of my logo that I could easily stick on my products. Also I made sure that every email I sent out to a customer had a company logo in it. This all helps with creating the brand for the business. It’s crucial to develop a marketing plan that will not only sell your products, but also your brand. Here are some other articles I recommend to read to help you promote your Internet business: * Spreading The Word: Turbocharge Your Traffic * Converting Traffic Into Sales Part 1: Generating Leads * Converting Traffic Into Sales Part 2: Profiting From The Back-End * 12 Sales Effective Marketing Tips Operating Your Business This is the “lifeblood” of the business and I’m amazed at the amount of businesses that still operate without having good systems in place. An electrician I use from time to time asked me how I maintain my book work and said he doesn’t know how to do it. I was shocked because I’d known him to be trading for over 2 years and he probably doesn’t know how much money is being made in his business or let alone lost. What I am saying is to not be like my Electrician friend and make sure you buy an accounting software to track all your accounts and paperwork. I would suggest hiring a book keeper because it will save you the hassle and time of doing it all yourself. Some good software packages out there that are under $500 like MYOB Accounting and QuickBooks will be more than sufficient when you start out. Another area that most people forget or get caught out on are getting the appropriate insurances for your business. The most common are public liability insurance, fire, burglary, vehicle and workers compensation insurance. All these can be easily found via a quick search on Google. I would recommend ensuring both public liability and fire insurances are in place before even running your business. Keeping Pace And Staying Up To Date This may sound all too overwhelming when you have to promote, operate your business and keep up to date with your industry. Believe me it’s not as hard as it sounds. Take the first step and join a trade association or your local Chamber of Commerce. You will find it both informative and beneficial to your business. To know what is happening in your area and within your industry can help you make better decisions for promoting your product or service. Whether it may be time to change a product line or add more services to your business, you will be keeping up with the industry and making sure you are not missing out on opportunities. Also it’s a great way to network and promote within your trade associations and Chamber of Commerce. Simply write an article to contribute and it can be used as great public relations (P.R) for your business. Also I emphasise to have a well prepared business plan created before starting your business, because this will be your starting point. A business plan is useful for so many areas for your business from sourcing finance to implementing a growth strategy for the next 5 years. Once it’s written down, it will become a living breathing document that you can update and review over time. I’ve just finished preparing my business plan for this business which took nearly 3 weeks to complete but I can tell you that it is well worth the time and effort to do. Learn how to put your own business plan together and I can guarantee you that you’ll get finance and negotiate business deals much easier. The Future Of Your Internet Business Starting your Internet Business is rewarding and if you look into those areas I have mentioned, then you will have a good foundation to running a successful Internet Business. Take action today and know that you deserve to live your dream. Tyrone Shum Internet Business Coach


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Setting Goals for your Home Based Business

WHAT IS MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Are You Listening?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.