Stressful
events frequently represent ‘black swans’. Europeans believed that all swans
were white until explorers discovered Australia. Black swans thus signify the
unexpected – the uncontrollable factors that produce additional stress. Taking
charge is the antidote.
Taking
charge means recognizing that stress is partly self-inflicted. Christopher
Foster’s suicide was triggered by a decision to dishonor contract. The company
concerned sued, and from that point his fortunes declined rapidly. The point is
that Foster chose to dishonor the contract, just as other entrepreneurs
choose to mount takeover bids, choose to launch new products and so forth. If
the metaphorical kitchen is already too hot, why turn up the temperature? What
do you hope to gain?
STRESS BUSTER 1: THE 80/20 RULE
Although
black swans are by definition unpredictable, you can be fairly certain that
something untoward will happen even if you cannot be specific. Prepare for the
unexpected by holding resources — material and mental — in reserve. The
so-called 80/20 ratio is a useful guide here. That is, avoid committing more
than 80 per cent so that you have a margin to cater for eventualities. For
example, when scheduling projects or even just planning your daily time
schedule, leave a 20 per cent safety margin so that you can respond to
unforeseen demands.
Expect the unexpected.
Reserves
will not eliminate ‘black swans’, but they reduce problems of overload and
leave you less stressed as a result. They will also enable you to seize
opportunities; that is, the good ‘black swans’ that suddenly appear and that you
might otherwise not have time for.
STRESS BUSTER 2: STOP SHORT OF PERFECTION
The
most common form of overload is taking too much on. It is better to start one
project and finish it than to become involved in six and deliver nothing.
It
is also a question of what you deliver. Perfection is expensive. When building
a battleship, getting 80 per cent of functionality right is relatively cheap
and easy. It is the remaining 20 per cent — that is, adding the refinements,
the so-called bells and whistles — that ramps up cost and results in projects
falling behind schedule. Do you need to be so ambitious? For instance, if you
are a travel agent, is it better to sell 80 per cent of seats on two chartered
flights than exert maximum effort to sell 100 per cent of seats on one flight,
only for the other plane to leave less than half full because of your
preoccupation with the former? When it comes to collecting debts, the chances
are that 80 per cent of the amount owing results from a few very large bad
debts. Pursue the ‘big fish’ first rather than waste energy on the umpteen
‘minnows’ that constitute the other 20 per cent of the total.
STRESS BUSTER 3: GET ORGANIZED
A
poorly organized business falls into a vicious circle. Poor organization creates
more work and loses money — which then creates more stress. In contrast, a
well-run business creates the opposite dynamic of a virtuous circle. Work smart as well as hard
One
reason why Bill Gates has made a lot more money than many other contemporary
high-profile entrepreneurs is his insistence upon careful planning, coupled
with a determination to generate ‘bottom line’ results.
You
can do the same. Start by installing systems to promote the effective running
of the business. For example, make sure that invoices are dispatched promptly,
use a diary system whereby non-payers and other unresolved issues are brought
to your attention regularly, and ensure that staff knows the procedures to be
followed and standards expected of them. It takes time, but it yields rewards.
It is rather like Robinson
Crusoe,
who could never improve his desert island home because he was always fishing
for food One day he went hungry and made a net. Maintaining a database of
customers on a computer or manual log rather than in your head saves time rummaging
for information. Good systems also mean that you can delegate more. Besides,
you can use the database to generate more turnover and profit from the business
by anticipating customers’ needs. For example, you can use a simple computer-based
diary system to remind you to telephone for orders rather than wait passively
for customers to come to you. Being proactive reduces the likelihood of
customer migration. Generating repeat business is a lot cheaper than
advertising for new customers. Installing systems like ‘total quality
management’ costs money and demands effort in the short run. In the long run,
however, the resultant efficiency gains are likely to be well worth it. In
addition, accreditation may mean that you are eligible to bid for a wider range
of contracts and can raise your prices.
Periodically
review what an hour of your time is worth. Of course you know how to use
Microsoft Word, but does it makes sense for you to sit typing letters any more?
Ask yourself whether the time could be better spent perhaps visiting trade
fairs, calling upon customers, thinking of new ideas for business and so on.
Think hard about what you can delegate.
In
all, it is the difference between working hard and working smart.
Impose order before there is disorder.
Be
proactive about garnering the harvest. One of the biggest sources of stress in
business is worrying about getting paid. Good systems will help, but don’t wait
passively for the cheque to arrive. Statements, telephone calls and even making
an unexpected visit to laggards will ensure that your invoice is at the top of
the pile when payments are made. Better still; make it your ambition to work
for the day when you can afford to decline offers of business from habitual
non-payers and aggressive customers.
‘A
stitch in time saves nine,’ counsels the proverb. Inevitably things go wrong,
even in the best-run organizations. Since problems have a habit of compounding
exponentially, it is wise to deal with them while they are small and
containable – well before you start noticing toilet paper, that is.
Fix small problems promptly.
Resist
any temptation to procrastinate. For example, if you see an employee engaging
in a potentially dangerous working practice, intervene before someone is killed
or seriously injured. If materials from a new supplier are wreaking havoc with
quality, do not let the problem escalate by turning out substandard items; stop
production. If a window is broken, ensure that it is repaired promptly.
Telephoning a joiner is a lot less stressful than mopping up after a flood.
STRESS BUSTER 4: DEFY TIME
Stress
is sometimes referred to as the ‘black plague’ of the 20th century.
Significantly, the advent of the ‘black plague’ coincided with the emergence of
the clock as the foremost means of regulating our lives. Our days are
punctuated by starting times, finishing times, mealtimes, break time and so
forth. Just about every electrical gadget we own incorporates a clock. Yet
there was a time when time counted for nothing. The agricultural peasant rose
when it was light and slept when it was dark. There was no division of time
between work and leisure. Time only became important after the Industrial
Revolution and the emergence of the factory system, which needed
synchronization.
Clock
time now seems so important that we almost always respond to pressure by
speeding up. This is what stress loves! Instead of going faster and becoming
more stressed as a result — ‘more haste, less speed’ — try going as slowly as
you possibly can. Going slow, taking your time, is a subtle way of taking
charge. Instead of being ruled by deadlines and rushing to meet targets,
proceed at your own pace.
Go slow to go fast.
Interestingly,
when something becomes not a matter of time, it is often finished surprisingly
quickly.
STRESS BUSTER 5: PRIORITIZE
Black
swans may not arrive singly, so overload cannot always be avoided. Students of
the martial arts practice routines that simulate an attack by multiple
assailants. They learn to deal with the assailant who is closest first, precisely
because this assailant’s physical proximity means that he or she is best
positioned to inflict damage. This maxim works well for managing overload. First things first
If
you are under pressure, begin by compiling a list of everything you need to do.
Highlight the more urgent tasks and then prioritize the shortlist. Start with
the most urgent task and then move through the others.
STRESS BUSTER 6: REBOOT
Just
as a clockwork toy eventually loses momentum, a business can lose energy and
direction over time. If the business seems to be going through a bad patch, try
the following simple health check:
1.
Who are my customers?
2.
What do they want?
3.
What are they willing to pay for?
4.
Has any of this changed?
The
aim of the exercise is to detect possible slippage between what your customer’s
value and what you are actually delivering. For instance,
Toyota’s
customers value reliability. Caterpillar attracts custom by its exemplary
after-sales service. Hospitals in developing countries create value by treating
patients at the lowest possible costs. In contrast, in affluent countries cost
is less important in health care than using the latest and best treatments, for
which hospitals charge a price premium.
Likewise,
architectural firms may create value by focusing upon low-cost housing
solutions or specializing in up market residential properties, according to
what particular segment of the market they are in. Is the business still
sharply aligned to what your customer’s value, or have things slipped a little?
Slippage
means loss of efficiency. Resources need to be organized and reorganized to
deliver value. Companies such as Microsoft and Google would never have
succeeded if they had merely employed scientists and computer engineers and
just left them to get on with the job. All systems decay. It is necessary,
periodically, to review and if necessary redesign systems and to redirect
knowledge, expertise and so forth to match what customers value. For example,
this might involve installing new office software, selling off parts of the
business that are a poor fit with the core enterprise, or improving quality so
that customer expectations are again fulfilled.
STRESS BUSTER 7: REFRESH
Imagine
a knife that gets used day in, day out. Eventually the blade becomes blunt. If
we carry on using the knife, we end up exerting more and more effort for
ever-diminishing returns. Breaks, holidays, traveling to conferences and so
forth should be seen not as luxuries but as normal business expenses essential
to maintaining long-term capability. You replace toner in the photocopier and
top up the oil in a car, so why not refresh and recharge yourself?
STRESS BUSTER 8: MANAGE EXPECTATIONS
Depression
equals the gap between our expectations and our achievements. Ignore the
popular books promising instant wealth, and the self serving autobiographies of
entrepreneurs trumpeting effortless success. Unless you are miraculously lucky,
those promises merely create false expectations.
Divide and conquer.
Set
expectations that are measurable. Dreamlike hopes, like ‘waiting for that day’,
are almost bound to produce depression because they are so vague that they can
never be achieved. If you do not know what success looks like, how can you hope
to recognize it?
Be
specific about what counts as success; for example:
■ Increasing turnover by 10 per cent every year for the next five
years;
■ acquiring one new customer every day/week/month (as appropriate);
■ buying a country residence within three years
Be
ambitious about what you want to achieve but realistic as to how you will get
there. Translate the larger, more distant goal into smaller, easily attainable
targets. That way, instead of feeling that you are forever working hard to
reach a seemingly impossible goal, you will generate a constant stream of
progress and a constant boost to your self-esteem. Self-esteem matters, because
research by psychologists has consistently shown that individuals with high
self-esteem tend to be more successful than individuals with low self-esteem —
hence the proverb ‘nothing succeeds like success. It is only when you are
consistently successful that success can become a liability. Worry about that
later; it is a nice problem to have!
Review
the plan periodically. Planning is basically dreaming with discipline. You may
never achieve all or even anything on the plan and yet still be enormously
successful through taking unplanned and unforeseen opportunities. Remember:
black swans can be a Good Thing! Be prepared to adjust the plan if
circumstances dictate. Misery is inevitable if you retain unrealistic targets
such as trying to increase turnover in a falling market. Instead, lower the
threshold temporarily.
For
instance, Paul had been very successful over the years until the economic cycle
turned against him. Yet he kept setting targets that were no longer feasible,
and became depressed when he failed to achieve them. ‘The trade wasn’t there
any more,’ said Paul. ‘But I couldn’t see it.’
Incidentally,
success may not follow a linear trajectory. It can come in fits and starts with
long periods of dearth. You may have one very successful project that pays for
nine other failures. It is not failure per se that produces depression, but
expectation that everything should succeed.
STRESS BUSTER 9: REINVENT YOURSELF
Nothing
lasts for ever. Stepping down from day-to-day control of the business is a
major life transition. That does not mean you have to give up, however. One
option is to do the same thing rescored in a different key. In 2008, Bill Gates
stepped down from Microsoft in order to concentrate upon his charitable
foundation. Gates exchanged a life of fighting lawsuits and strategic battles
to stay afloat amid rapidly changing technology for one spent contending with
diseases such as AIDS and malaria.
Go with the flow.
Alternatively,
instead of changing what you do, change how you do it. For the past 35 years I have stayed at an old inn. The landlady
is now in her eighties and day-to-day management of the inn has long since passed
to younger members of the family. Yet she still awakens to the 7 o’clock news
on Radio 4, dons an apron and is in the kitchen by 8 o’clock. She clears a
plate or two from a breakfasting guest before sitting down with the family to
breakfast. She is also dressed up and present at the start of lunch and early
evening, when she chats to regulars and again removes a plate or two. The
result is happiness and fulfillment. The landlady still feels she is doing
productive work (and she is), but is doing so at a pace that her
abilities. It is the difference between going with the flow and going against
it.
STRESS BUSTER 10: CULTIVATE TRANQUILITY
Try
to avoid making important decisions when stressed. Research by psychologists
has shown that we are much more likely to see solutions to problems when we
approach them in a relaxed state of mind than when feeling tense or tired. If
that is impractical, make allowances for how you feel. If you are feeling
anxious, revise your estimates of success downwards. If you are feeling
depressed, scale them up
An empty mind is a powerful mind.
Better
still, try to get yourself into a frame of mind conducive to good decision
making. Frame of mind cannot be forced but it can be coaxed.
Exercise
is an excellent stress buster. So is meditation. Instead of filling your mind
with all the problems of the day, try emptying it. I practice this philosophy
by listening to Radio in the morning for inspiration. (And no matter how busy I
am, or how early I have to rise, the day does not begin until I have consumed a
pot of coffee.) I have heard many people say that Choral Evensong (also
broadcast on Radio 3) has a soothing effect regardless of one’s religious
beliefs or non-beliefs.
Draw
a distinction between signal and noise. What was worrying you this time last
year and how important is it now? Most of what bombards us is noise. That is
why there is not much of a market for old newspapers.
Some
decision makers carry works by Virgil or St Augustine in their pockets to
rebalance their perennial preoccupation with the here and now. Believe in
yourself that you can overcome all stress and struggles.
Forward
you questions or enquires to slybizinfobank@gmail.com
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