Abandoning a Good Idea (Part 1)
“The enemy of greatness is goodness.” I recently read this quote in the book Success Principles by Jack Canfield, and found it again in another business blockbuster book just yesterday; that’s twice in one week! So these are the golden questions of the week:
1. What is it that we can be the best in the world at?
2. What are we doing now that we can’t be the best in the world at?
In the book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t, author Jim Collins describes companies whose management has asked themselves these questions. According to this business bestseller, great companies are the ones that decided to stop pursuing #2, and focus only on #1.
If you’ve ever tried doing this in any way, you know the process is painful. After all, you wouldn’t be doing something that you didn’t think was good or worthwhile, so if admitting you’re not the best in the world means you have to get rid of it, the repercussions can be unpalatable.
Investment of time and energy actually creates attachment. Often it’s the Charlie Brown Christmas tree that we grow most fond of. Who doesn’t love a “piece of work,” “the underdog,” the “losers when they try”? In our personal lives, this is just fine. Working hard at something that’s never going to be perfect is just part of that whole delightfully messy thing called life. We don’t quit an imperfect marriage just because it’s not the ‘best in the world.” We don’t stop practicing a hobby if we’re not world renown at it. We don’t pave the front yard just because we cant’ get rid of the weeds.
Just think of the small joys we’d lose out on. For example, I make dolls and quilts when I can find the time, and I love every minute of it even though I personally know many fiber artists who have far more talent than I. My husband plays the piano and has been practicing the same music for years in spite of the fact that he’s probably not the greatest pianist who’s ever played. And what about the marathon runner who’s never actually won a marathon? Should he give up completely? No; personal goals and pleasant activities round out our human-ness.
But let’s slide over to business.
Say you’re a deck builder. (We just talked with a guy about expanding our living area out the back, so this is fresh in my mind.) Maybe you’re not the best deck builder in the world (Who would know?) but you’d never give up your livelihood because of this. Your customers are happy and you never need to advertise because you have so much word-of-mouth business. You like your work and make good money at deck building.
Now consider that you also build sheds, a sideline niche that keeps you somewhat busy, but is really more of a pain than you’d like to admit. Say you have to go clear across town to get the roofing materials you need, you have to hire extra help to level the ground, you’re always competing with the We Build Sheds Company next door, and (true confessions) designing sheds/planning their construction is really not your favorite thing, but you hate to say no to a potential customer.
Psst. Maybe it’s time to let that part of your business go.
Here’s a radical idea: what would happen if you referred your deck customer, who also wants a shed, to the We Build Sheds Co.? I wonder if he’d give his customers your phone number if they also wanted a deck?
Sometimes what seems like a loss can be a gain. Abandoning a good idea is risky, but leaves you open to achieve other great things.
(We’ll post Part Two of Abandoning a Good Idea tomorrow.)
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