In order to get bigger think small
Ever think about time as a commodity?
A commodity is generally accepted to be something in common use, readily available and virtually the same wherever you find it.
Time certainly fits that definition, doesn’t it?
But time may be the only commodity we haven’t synthesized. And until we do, time will continue to be unique among commodities and, consequently, our most valuable.
And yet, as precious as time is, it’s an expensive irony that time is the commodity we often waste the most, sometimes as if it were worth nothing.
So, what’s the solution? Organization – it’s the nexus between time and productivity.
We commit resources to acquire all kinds of stuff - information, materials, etc. - with the intention of accomplishing something, like a bid or a marketing project, which typically will need to happen within a predetermined period of time. But whether it happens as planned — including on-time — will often depend more on how organized we are rather than our capability or the information and resources we’ve acquired.
If someone stole your new $2000 computer, you would have them arrested. But how often has being unorganized cost you more than $2000 in an unsuccessful bid, loss of a contract or other opportunity? In the justice system of the marketplace, that’s the same as being arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to some level of failure. What does your organization “record” look like?
But let’s cut ourselves a little slack. It’s not easy for small businesses to be organized when you have one person doing the work of three, or 25 doing the work of 40. Such ratios are one of the markers of a small business — doing more with less - especially these days. Consequently, a large project can be so intimidating that it creates a dread disease worse than being disorganized: procrastination.
Professional organizers say you can cure procrastination with one critical organizational practice: Break large projects into an assembly of smaller ones. Instead of thinking about a large project like it’s an elephant you have to eat all at once, split it into an assembly of smaller pieces and take them on, one at a time.
So, how small is small? How about small enough to complete while you’re on hold?
Breaking big projects into bite-size pieces will help you work smarter, not harder; increase your competitive advantage; and use that most precious commodity - time - more efficiently.
Write this on a rock... If you want to get bigger, think smaller.
Jim Blasingame, Creator/Host of The Small Business Advocate Show
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