Be Open to Change
I was bitten by a dog this week.
Not seriously and, given the circumstances, I don’t expect to be foaming at the mouth anytime soon.
And, in the dog’s defense, it was mostly my fault.
I was visiting my client Paul at his office Monday afternoon. As we were exchanging greetings, I was happily surprised to see a smallish, black dog stroll by.
I’m a big fan of clothing-free workspaces and so I leaned over to scratch him (the dog, not Paul).
He seemed to like it, so I did what I always do with my dog: I put my face right up to his while scratching him behind both ears.
In hindsight, pretty dumb with a dog I didn’t know. But still fine.
In fact, it wasn’t until about ten minutes later, when the dog walked through our meeting and I put my hand out, that he nipped my arm.
Nothing terrible, but enough to leave a couple of marks, right through my heavy sweater.
That’s when the obvious finally dawned on me: Not all dogs are the same.
My dog Abbie, for example, is not the least bit aggressive.
You can pull on her ears; play tug of war with her favorite toy; insert your favorite child and/or body part in her mouth, and she will make no move to harm you.
And so over the past 10+ years of living with Abbie, I’ve literally let my guard down around all dogs, resulting in Monday’s incident. (Note to Paul: You will be hearing from my attorney.)
One bright spot, though: It woke me up regarding my business.
Here’s what I mean…
Over the past 15 years working as a solo, I’ve come to do things a certain way.
I have a consistent approach to the way I write proposals, organize my web site, market my products, invoice my clients, package my services, publish my newsletter, etc. … most of which haven’t changed – or even been thought about – for years.
There’s some efficiency in this, of course; you’ll never get anything done if you have to reinvent everything, every day.
But, like a man who’s come to treat every dog the same – regardless of size, type or circumstance – there’s a cost to the, “that’s the way we do it around here,” tunnel vision that I’ve developed.
[Tweet “Don’t let the “that’s the way we do it around here,” mentality take a bite of your #business.”]It means I overlook potential improvements; ignore new opportunities; and continue to do things that, while they may have once made perfect sense, no longer do.
And that’s why I’ve decided that I will no longer bite visitors to my office.
Not only that, I will focus on reinventing the way I do business, with a particular emphasis on breaking old patterns and seeking new, previously ignored, opportunities.
I expect to get more done, earn more money and increase my overall work satisfaction. I’m kind of looking forward to my new adventure too.