Dec. 5, 2017

Ep26: Mental Feng Shui

Episode 26 Have you ever found yourself adding unnecessary steps to a project? Made something simple way too complicated? This week, Jodi and Eliot talk about the mental feng shui that happens when the mundane creates space for real business magic....

Episode 26

Have you ever found yourself adding unnecessary steps to a project? Made something simple way too complicated? This week, Jodi and Eliot talk about the mental feng shui that happens when the mundane creates space for real business magic.

Why is that important for business?

Often, we overcomplicate things in our business. It may just be the way we have always done something, or it may be that we are too close and cannot see what is possible – often we need someone else to point out where our processes are overcomplicating things.

When a process is developed, it initially served a purpose. But where do we stop trying to make things better or more efficient?

Perhaps it is not only a matter of having a rock in your shoe, but it is about also having at rock at the exact time when you are in a position to be able to take off your shoe. Fixing an issue with procedures isn’t just about the irritant being sufficiently…irritating, then. It is also about having the time and resources - and perhaps even the personality - to no longer put up with the irritant. Maybe we all need someone in our life that has no patience for little irritants, and helps us to fix them.

Sometimes irritants somehow make it into our blind spots, and here, there is value in the pause.

Training someone is such a great way to uncover your issues and processes that aren’t necessary. It is a great way to pull out magnifying glass and see where there are places where things can be easier. There is the innate value that increased efficiency brings, obviously, but an even more important benefit comes from simplicity. Efficiency doesn’t just buy you productivity; it buys brain space. It helps you create less overwhelm moving forward. It creates mental feng shui. Instead of focusing on tasks, you are focusing on pathways and harmony, even in something as mundane as office procedure.

Processes and procedures can feel mundane, but there is something so magical about what they can unblock. There is more to what a really well-honed process can do for an organization than just make sure Ts get crossed. They can free up really smart people in a company to be able to act as really smart people.

 

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