When I talk here
about things like
the pandemic
or climate change
or shifts in the workforce,
I am almost always
early
with any advice
I give.
This is intentional.
Because making changes
in our businesses
takes time,
especially if we want
to make them
in the most resource efficient way.
There is no point
advising you
to prepare
for something
and giving you
no time to prepare.
The best advice
is advice
given early.
Don’t expect
events
to immediately occur.
COVID causes brain damage.
EVERY bout, no symptoms, mild, severe,
damages our brain.
If you haven’t noticed it,
well…that’s not great.
I HAVE noticed it.
I’ve had COVID
at least twice
and I suffered brain damage
after each bout.
The brain damage
was, thankfully, slight.
My writing ‘voice’ had changed.
My tempo, choice of words,
pace had shifted.
I added a couple steps
to my process after that.
I read a before-COVID-written story
and then the about-to-be-edited story
and I ensure the writing is consistent.
Consider putting processes
in place
to deal with your hopefully slight
after COVID
brain damage
also.
And if you’re saying to yourself
that you don’t need this,
that you won’t or don’t
suffer from brain damage,
then I suspect you REALLY need it.
That’s not a happy realization
but accepting that will help you
to not only cope
but also achieve the success
you want for yourself.
A buddy was telling me
she has been constantly sick
for the past six months or so.
I asked her
if that was working well for her.
She looked at me
as though I’d lost my mind
and said
no, it wasn’t working well
for her
at all.
I then asked her
what she’s changing.
She said she wasn’t changing
anything.
I shrugged
and told her
she will continue
being ill
until something changes.
And the only something
she is in control of
is herself.
We might think
that’s obvious.
But I know
there’s at least one business situation
I’ve been tolerating
that I haven’t tried to change.
And I should try something,
anything to do that.
We all have one
of those.
If a situation isn’t working
for you,
change something.
The issue won’t fix itself.
When I told my business building buddy
his employees
were likely truly ill
and not faking it,
he pointed out
how one of his employees
found another job
while she was supposedly ill.
I asked him
if that new job
was remote.
Was she working from home?
Yep,
it WAS a remote job.
Because, of course, it was.
The employee likely
HAD to get a new job.
She likely couldn’t return
to her old job
and the office
and the daily commute.
Happy healthy employees
don’t find new jobs
while they’re off work
and ill.
If your employees
are finding new jobs
while they’re off work,
they likely can’t do
their old jobs.
Either communicate
that you’re open
to changing existing jobs
to accommodate changes in circumstances
or wish ill employees the best
when they land new jobs elsewhere.
A business building buddy
grumbled
that he thought
one of his employees
was faking illness,
trying to get out of working.
Confessing to being ill
at this point of the pandemic
is, for some,
a confession of weakness.
It also brings
social isolation
and social condemnation.
The sick person
is viewed as an unsafe person,
a risky person
to be near.
People are more likely
to fake being well
than fake being ill.
So when they tell you
they’re ill,
they’re likely VERY ill
as in
vomiting
and having the sh*ts
without any warning
level of illness.
(This is happening
with one of the dominant
COVID variants.)
No one wants
a person ill like that
at the office.
If someone says
they’re ill,
believe them.
Governments stopped tracking
COVID infection numbers
hoping
no one will blame them
for the pandemic escalating.
That decision
is killing people.
People think COVID went away.
They’re not taking precautions.
And they’re dying from COVID.
This type of
if-we-don’t-track-it
it-doesn’t-exist
thinking is being applied
to climate change
and other problems.
And the results have been
equally disastrous.
You might be tempted
to apply this thinking
to your own business.
Sales are bad,
for example,
so you are considering
stopping tracking sales.
This will kill your business.
We have to address problems,
not ignore them.
Continue tracking key numbers
even or especially
when those numbers are bad.
Yesterday, I talked about
how we all should
know the signs of failure,
watch for them,
and
then act on them.
There are millions
of points of failure.
Who has the excess time
to monitor all of them?
I certainly don’t
have this spare time.
What I do
is I monitor people
monitoring the possible points
of failure.
I’ll follow experts
on my industry
or climate change
or fascism
or business.
Every week or so,
I’ll scan their feeds.
And that usually gives me a sense
of what might happen soon.
Track the social media posts
of the people
monitoring failure.
That should keep you
adequately informed.
The average adult
is extremely stressed.
According to the 2023
Stress In America report,
24% of adults
rated their stress
as extremely high
(compared to 19%
in 2019).
Stress levels are lower
for older people.
Only 9% of those aged 65+
feel extremely stressed.
In contrast,
34% of those aged 18 to 24
feel extremely stressed.
What does this mean
for business builders?
Our employees are likely
to be under a LOT of stress.
Our customers are also
likely looking for ways
to lower their stress levels.
If we can reduce stress
with our products, our services,
our management style,
we are more likely
to earn loyalty
from the people around us.
A loved one
was told he would receive
a refund on a purchase.
The refund never came.
It took him three additional contacts
to receive the refund.
This is happening
for a lot of people
with a lot of companies
in a lot of instances.
It happens with orders.
It happens with refunds.
It happens with project management.
It could be a result of COVID.
It could be a result of
corporate policies.
It could be a result
of people simply not caring anymore.
Whatever is causing this,
it is happening.
Following up
is absolutely necessary now
if you want anything done.
Factor that into your timelines.
I told a COVID-safe buddy
that I bought
another personal air purifier
to take with me
when I eat in restaurants
or attend events.
She told me
if the restaurants improved
their ventilation,
I wouldn’t need that air purifier.
Sure, but that isn’t reality.
I have to make decisions
based on reality,
not the best case scenario.
Right now,
I suspect we all want to base
a decision
on a best case scenario.
(I am definitely included in this.)
Like…
Everyone who bought
product 1
will buy product 2.
or
One of our posts
will go viral
and thousands of people
will discover our business.
or
That big problem with our product
will no longer be seen
as a problem
with prospects and customers.
These best case scenarios
COULD happen.
I could also win the lottery
tomorrow.
But the odds are against that.
Base your decision making
on reality.