ARE YOU WORKING IN IT OR ON IT?

A number of years ago I read a stunning book by Michael Gerber. The name of that book is E Myth. In that book Michael said something I never forgot. He said, “are you too busy working in it to work on it?” I put the book down and thought for a moment about how I had missed the point in my career and in my business. We all get so busy going somewhere without a somewhere to go. This is because we do not devote the time to planning the outcome before the activity. Am I too busy working in my business to work on my business?

Each day you get up and you go to work. Maybe you don’t call it work, maybe you call it play. But each day you get up and do it. Without planning much of what we do, we go through a routine or a cycle of each day. In my case this means getting on an airplane, getting off of an airplane, checking into a hotel, talking to a client, speaking to a group. Unfortunately in some cases I am too busy working in the process to work on the process, thinking that working in it is going to make me better at working on it.

There are two angles to this message. One of those angles is to do things with purpose and an end in mind. In other words, identify the destination before you get involved in the action. Identify where you want to go before you start peddling the bicycle. The other angle is that if we are too busy doing things and not improving ourselves, then we are too busy working in it rather than working on it and it isn’t getting any better.

Recently I read a book by a fellow from the third century named Ignatius Loyola. He developed a process called discernment. This is the ability to disconnect yourself enough from the activity to make better decisions about the purpose of the action. I have found that the only way to be really good at this is to not decide that you need to establish goals, but to block time to really think about those goals. If you don’t block the time, you are not going to establish quality goals. And if you operate out of need, rather than opportunity, you will always make poor decisions. In other words, if you say that “I need to work” rather than “I have an opportunity to work,” then as Ignatius says, you must “disconnect yourself and push back from the need in order to make better decisions about the opportunity.”

I need to work so I go get a job. The job requires me to work intensively a lot of the time. So I do not improve me, I just get better at doing the function for the job. I don’t go back to school and I don’t create or set up time for learning. I just work. So I am constantly working, yet not working on me.

So, do three things. First, block time to define the outcome of your actions. Where do you want to go? Where do you want to end up? Keeping the end in mind will make it a lot easier to identify which actions have the highest priority when you judge actions in terms of the final destination. Second, push back from the activity or the need to give yourself space to breathe and to think about the value of what you are doing. Third, improve the “you” skills through life long learning.

About the Author

Thomas Winninger is the founder of WINNINGER Visionscope a Minneapolis based Think Tank. He is author of the best selling books MarketQuake, Price Wars, Full Price and Sell Easy and his just published book BULLSEYE! – What Market Leaders are doing to consistently HIT the BULLSEYE! Thom is one of the most in-demand business speakers in the North America today. For more information about his programs please visit, BULLSEYE! How Market Leaders consistently hit The Mark