You found the perfect frame for your photo. It was the frame you dreamed of finding. The plan was set as you already knew exactly where to hang this frame which would house the photos which you printed out from your digital camera. You bought a picture hook when you bought the frame. You have a hammer already to go. Up goes the picture hook in the exact place where you want your new frame hung up.
You place the frame up and onto the picture hook.
There it is as you step back and see…the crooked picture frame hanging there? Okay so you play around with the frame a bit and it always ends up crooked. Not a little crooked – a lot crooked.
Does this ever happen to you in your business?
Do you have examples which you might relate to – similar to this story so far?
Here is what I did when this happened to me recently.
I turned over the frame and placed a ruler on the top of the frame on the back. This was to take a measurement and see where things were right now before taking any action. The answer was not what I expected. The hanging piece was installed one full inch off center! Gathering in the facts of what would be necessary to effectively and efficiently correct this situation, I brought in a few tools which would be needed. With a pencil, I marked the exact location of where the hanging piece needed to be installed.
Unscrewed the piece, redrilled holes in locations which I neatly and specifically marked for the screws and then reinstalled the hanging piece. The picture frame was placed where my daughter needed it to be. This entire process took me less then five minutes.
How does this relate to your business?
What do you do when something is out of whack or just seems out of place?
What if the event announcements are placed in your blog by accident instead of on your events page?
Do you just go in and fix it?
Or do you take the opportunity to be a leader and a manager by finding out how this happened and make it a teaching and learning moment for your team?
August 16, 2010 by
I love that your approach is to take a thorough look at what the facts are when things are “crooked.” I often tell clients they have to back up before moving forward, and that’s exactly what I mean. Great point, Mitch.
Sue Painter
Sue,
You know as well as I do how often people ‘knee jerk’ respond to a situation
or react without clearly thinking through and defining where they are today and where they need to go. I appreciate you taking your time to visit my blog and leave your comment.
Mitch
Mitch,
It all boils down to planning and execution. I love how you guide us to be better leaders and share a learning experience to help the team grow instead of jumping in and fixing the mistakes ourselves.
Thanks for sharing.
Write on!~
Lisa
Lisa,
It is so much ‘easier’ for us to ‘just do it our way’ and then move on. For the better good and growth of our business and our team we must take that deep breath and allow for teaching and guiding. This is the way to lead and manage a business for the future. I appreciate you taking the time in your day to visit my blog and leave your comment.
Mitch
I love planning and thinking things through, it gives me a feeling of confidence when I enter a project.
I also love being completely spontaneous, and letting things unfold magically.
I think with picture frames and business it needs a bit of both, but if there is no structure the magical unfolding won’t hold up for long!
Laura,
I agree that creativity is essential. Thanks for your comment,
Mitch
Mitch ~ this kind of relates to how the growth of a business is not a straight line – it is a zig zag. The important part is that you hung the picture, right? You could have researched the exact right frame, matte, color, texture, etc and never done anything because you were never completely convinced you had enough information. It’s the doing that takes you to the next step so you CAN figure out what went wrong, adjust and move forward. Great article and analogy. Thank you.
Robin
Robin,
Yes, you are correct. Thanks for your comment.
Mitch
Mitch,
I love the creative way that you tie in the need to take the time to really evaluate our businesses so they we can restore alignment. Creativity is such an essential ingredient in entrepreneurship, so it’s no wonder that you are so successful…:)
Many thanks,
Jennifer
Jennifer,
I appreciate your comment. Constant evaluation of your business is necessary to stay on track and grow.
Mitch
Mitch,
Thanks for the analogy. As leaders of our company we should always be giving feedback and using every “snag” as a teaching opportunity for our team to learn from.
Thank you,
Kiyla Fenell
http://www.ultimatestaffingsystem.com
Kiyla,
Thanks for your comment. We should take the time to use positive actions and positive activities to manage and lead as well. It’s just more difficult sometimes when errors take place or complete screw ups happen to stop and teach instead of just diving in to take corrective actions.
Mitch
Beautiful analogy, Mitch! XO, Katherine.
Katherine,
I am happy you enjoyed it.
Mitch
I love this analogy! Sometimes it’s easier to do the “quick fix” — but you are SO right…you need to take a look at the source of the problem. Quick fixes only get you so far.
Carmen,
Thank you for your comment. You know better than most how important tackling what seems difficult pays off big time later. Mitch
Here I am, ‘Miss Independence’! It is my #1 value followed by “Relationships”, now is that a push-me-pull-you, or what! It is always soooo tempting to just do it yourself to save time or effort and your reminder to just step back and take a new perspective to use the opportunity for something better is great. Love the analogy, I am so bugged by crooked pictures, I always have to straighten them even in someone elses home or a public place. OCD? 🙂
Thanks for the article!
Lynn
Lynn,
I appreciate your comment. Thanks, Mitch
Mitch,
I love how you went back and looked at the frame itself! How often would we blame the nail, the hammer, the wall – and assume that everything was fine with the frame!
I do use the opportunity in my consulting to discover with the client how something ended up the way it did – before we go in and fix it.
You always have to be sure you are fixing the right part!
Terry
Terry,
Thank you Terry, yes finding the main reason for the problem(s) and fixing them are critical to moving forward.
Mitch
Hi, Mitch –
What a creative way to make a point! And very sage advice – yes, it si important to stop and take notice before before forward sometimes!
Patricia,
Thank you for stopping by and leaving your comment. How do you know where you are going if you don’t know where you are?
Mitch