The Rut

When 100% of our time is given to doing the business (marketing, selling, making, fixing, shipping, accounting, etc.), we’re stuck. We’re in a rut that leads to failure.

It’s a common trap we can all fall into. We have something the market wants. Demand increases and the technical activity associated with getting and filling orders completely fills our schedules. Forty hours per week becomes fifty and then sixty. We start taking work home (it’s a sign when what we once enjoyed becomes work). Everything becomes more mechanical. We lose balance often at the same time our business is losing steam.

When we’re in the rut, the solution appears to be counter-intuitive and impossible to execute, but we must allocate a portion of our time to work on the business if we want our business to survive. It’s not optional – it’s essential. We need to continually infuse creativity into our business, if we want to stay out of the rut. That won’t happen if we don’t: 1) purposefully allocate time for it and 2) utilize an agenda that maximizes the creative input in the time allocated.

The best solution I’ve seen to infuse the most creativity in the shortest amount of time is the EOS® Meeting Pulse™. It calls for setting aside 5 days per year with your executive leadership team and 90 minutes or less per week (5% to 6% of your total work hours), using specific agendas to extract creative input to prioritize, solve your issues, maintain focus and advance your company.

If you haven’t already established the discipline, start today and stay out of the rut.