Chopping Wood and Hauling Water

Is it really all about chopping wood and hauling water?

Seems like we spend more time working so we can get more technology so we can work more efficiently to make more money to get more technology…to chop more wood and haul more water.

If we stopped for a minute and devoted one day a month to some serious sitting and staring time to really think about our business, would it hurt? Would it hurt us to stop the chopping and hauling every month; to take a step back and evaluate, reevaluate and modify, if needed. Or are we so blinded by the habitual need for more wood and water that we keep doing the same thing?

Maybe doing the same thing is a good thing. It has history, it is consistent, we have mastered it and we pretty much know what the results will be within a 5% to 10% margin.

With all this talk about “out of the box” thinking, not many are really doing it. Business people say things like, “It’s too risky. It’s too much work. It takes too much time.” And besides, it will keep us from the chopping and hauling that which we know so well how to do.

But doesn't familiarity, as the old saying goes, breed contempt? And probably a little complacency too?

Take a break from the chopping and hauling. Do a little thinking and dreaming. Do a little reevaluation of different and possible more productive ways to chop and haul.

One of my clients built a free ice cream cup into his summer daytime kid program. For a 25 cent ice cream, he is bringing in 50 to 70 kids a session.

Amazing what a little sitting and staring time will do for you. Mark a date on your calendar. Sit and stare for a while, maybe you’ll come up with a better way to chop and haul.

Or at least enjoy the ice cream.