No matter what the changes have been to the business world, you still need short-term resolutions.
Lately, I have heard a lot of people talking about their long-term plans for business improvement. I love it. Fixing businesses is what I teach and enjoy talking about so let me hear it. I’m all ears. But what I have been hearing lately just seems a bit odd to me so I wanted to spend some time discussing it today.
You see, we all still have gaps in our business. Gaps in businesses existed in the old business environment and will continue to exist in the new business environment. The issues themselves may have changed, but issues still exist. Businesses are dynamic. But some people are thinking because they have different issues, they should solve them in a different way.
Let me give you an example:
You go into a room in your house or office and you try to turn on the overhead light, but the light switch doesn’t work. It appears the switch is broken. There’s the problem you are now faced with, a broken light switch. Your long-term solution is to get an electrician to come by, check it out, and repair it. But what are you going to do for 2 weeks while you are waiting on the electrician? Are you simply not going to use that room?
No, you are going to find a lamp and you are going to take it into the room. It’s not going to work as well as the overhead light. It’s not perfect. But it’s a temporary solution, allowing you to fix the problem immediately until you can permanently fix the problem. The lamp is your short-term resolution.
What I hear business leaders talk about right now is the fact that many of them are opting to not use the room at all. They are waiting the 2 weeks and forgoing the lamp in their businesses. Why? The room hasn’t changed so drastically since you discovered the switch was broken. Nor has your business changed so drastically that you don’t need to use the room.
Think about that for a second. While the world around us may have changed, the need for short-term resolutions has not. When we find a gap in our business, the AIR2 Framework still applies. It works in any situation, no matter the situation. That means that R2 (R squared), or short-term and long-term resolutions should still be created and executed upon.
Failure to create short-term resolutions means you are allowing a known problem to exist in your business, damage you financially, damage customer service, or damage your brand. You don’t want and can’t afford that to happen.
Your challenge today is to think about the gaps in your business that you are working through right now. Do you have short-term resolutions in place to take care of the business and that customer while your long-term resolution is being finalized? If not, take action today too put short-term fixes into place.
Be Legendary!