Systemize the Routine...

Ever had one of those days when you felt as if you were “moving and doing” constantly, but at the end of the day, you weren’t exactly sure what you did or why?

Do you, perhaps, feel as if you’ve been having too many of them lately?

That’s what happens when we’re “at the center of everything” that goes on in our business. It’s when no activity goes unnoticed by us, or when no decision is made by anyone but us, or when we’re constantly intervening to “get things right.”

Psychology (the well-tested and well-validated kind) tells us that we spend 40 - 80% of our day as humans operating “on autopilot”…using habitual behavior to do whatever it is that we are doing.

It makes sense for our brains to do that because when we’re actively thinking, actively problem solving, actively dealing with unique situations, our brains are consuming over 20% of our energy resources. When we’re operating on autopilot, that consumption drops to about 7%.

For something that’s about 2% of the average person’s body weight, the brain is an energy hog! So, we’re built to actively think as little as possible by relying on habitual behavior.

Guess what? In a small business, we do the equivalent of that high energy/resource consumption ALL THE TIME if left unchecked. While our body is built to engage in habitual behavior, our business won’t be...unless we build the habits for it.

Why is that? Because those habitual behaviors that we engage in as humans are how the people on our teams will get things done…unless we guide their behaviors in some way. The first time someone has to do something without guidance, they may or may not succeed at doing it. But after several failed attempts, most will find a way to do it, and keep doing it that way because they no longer have to actively think, problem solve, etc...and that reduces the energy drain of their brains on their total body systems. And in the absence of guidance from us, those habits rule.

What we call “habits” for ourselves are what we call “systems and processes” in our businesses. Well-thought-out and installed systems and processes reduce excessive expenditures of energy and resources for our businesses (AND BY US AS OWNERS AND LEADERS). They also make it much easier to bring new people on board and get them working productively.

Pareto’s Law (proven to work over the last 400 years or so) says that 80% of any result comes from 20% of the resource input.

That’s how we should think about what happens in our businesses. 80% of “what goes on” should be guided by an established system or process. That will leave 20% to be handled by active thinking and problem solving by us or our people.

That creates the consistency that customers crave. And it lets us focus on making our businesses better, instead of just trying to keep up with the day-to-day.

And it also gives us the time to enjoy what we own, lead, and built!

That’s all for now!  Let me know what you think about this topic and your own experience with it.