Get R' Done, Maybe...Maybe Not.

While You Complete Your Other Routine Tasks, Introduce A New  Project

We decided to paint our house.  It is a large house so the decision to paint it was not one of those easy to decide moments.  It has been years since we last painted it.  Last year we re-painted the trim color.  The trim color was looking a bit faded, so we re-painted it.  It took a few days to complete.  We did it in small stages.  That kind of approach worked well for us.  My wife and I are somewhat disciplined enough to stick to a project and see it to its end.  So doing an on again, off again type of start and go technique would not be something the both of us could not handle effectively.  We pulled it off last year just fine.

Knowing we can do this start and go process well helped us to make the bigger decision to paint the rest of the house.  It will be a large undertaking.  During the process of shopping for new paint, we also decided to alter the main color just a little bit.  We decided to try out a little warmer main paint.  It still goes well with the trim color and the new color looks a lot nicer than our original selection.  There are some interesting notes to observe with this kind of project.  Number one; large projects are very easy to start but more difficult to finish.  Number two; working together on a single-focused, large project can test the relationship strength between partners.  Number three; what is the best method for dovetailing a new and large project into our already busy life schedules?  How will we blend this new project into our current patterns of life movements?  What will we both be willing to give up?

I like to observe these kinds of projects.  They represent a lot of interesting fundamentals about how people work together to get the job done.  The phrase, "Get R' Done" comes to play on projects like this.  I like to examine the effects a large project has on the organizational skills of a leader.  I also like to examine the effects a large project has on the skills of two leaders learning how to work together.  My wife and I are leaders in our own patterns of life.  I have a business I manage and she has a business she manages.  We have been business leaders in our own ways for nearly thirty years.  She is strong in hers and I am strong in mine.  We share desks at home.  We sometimes share computers.  We have learned how to make our tandem work well.  Our house is nearly 3,000 square feet and three stories high.  Painting it together will require cooperation, respect, team work, schedule management, a lot of work and respect for task application.  Even though my wife and I have learned how to work together well, we are completely wired differently.

My wife is a serious "Get R' Done" type of personality.  She will race to the end just to get a project completed.  She will not necessarily get hung up on the quality of play.  She will however, get hung up on how long the project is taking.  My wife is one of those task masters that prefers wrapping a project up well ahead of any due date.  Set a time limit on any project and she will always beat that schedule.  Always.

I, on the other hand, am a slower paced operator.  I prefer to pay closer attention to the details of a project.  I do not like to paint out of the lines, for example.  I do not like to skip something that does not necessarily need painting right now, but could improve the whole project if it was added to the work.  I like to work slower and with more quality of result.  She and I are wired differently.  We truly recognize these differences in approach.

Since we are wired in two different worlds, we decided to arrange our work patterns to respect how each of us is wired.  She gets to do the roller work on the main body of the structure.  Her rules of work are to move fast, no trim work and remain away from doing any detail painting.  Her job is to just 'roll and go.'  We laugh at the few times she caught herself trying to tuck the roller up close to the trim and do some of the detail stuff with the roller.  I repeated this phrase, "Hey, what are you doing?  Your job is to just roll and go.  Stop doing the detail trimming.  Just roll and go.  Stay away from the edge work."  I, on the other hand, am the trim detail-er.  I do the tedious trim touch work.  I make sure the lines are done correctly so we do not need to re-paint the trim that we did last year.  I am the assigned finisher.  At present time, we are one third done with the project.  So far, we are having fun and the house is looking great.  Plus we both love the new color.  It was a great color choice.  Everything around our house looks great with the warmer tones in the new color selection.  That becomes an extra plus to the project.

What does all of this have to do with operating a business model successfully?  It has everything to do with functioning correctly.  Large business projects should be part of every business model.  If you are not working on one right now in your business model, find and develop one to introduce.  My wife and I are always introducing new projects for our business models.  Always.  Not only are new projects important, finishing them is critical.  Closing projects up with a completion sign hanging on their activities is a must if you plan on winning big in business.  New projects are crucial elements in the profile of most successful business models.  The good ones always have a good project going on.  They remain busy adding value to their running business model.  Do not introduce projects, however, if you have no intention or ability to finish them.  A line-up of unfinished projects is a very cumbersome thing to place upon the shoulders of a struggling business.  Do not make that simple mistake.  Introduce projects and learn how to finish them within a reasonable period of time.  Get serious about this responsibility.  It matters a whole bunch!

Develop, Start and Finish New Business Projects

My wife has several components she performs to operate her own business model.  In one of her business components she recently developed a new product to introduce.  She is busy working on the prototype right now.  I like what I see in its potential.  She is running it by me once in awhile to show me how she plans to develop the product and the marketing plan for the new product.  She showed me the first finished prototype yesterday.  It looks great.  I immediately made a comment about my impression.  She liked what she heard about the comment I made.  The two of us took off from there and ended up deciding on a marketing approach for the product.  We wrote the ideas to our marketing approach down so we could remember some of the interesting details we discussed.  We want to remember those details later.  She will work on making an improved example today.  I know her.  She will do her routine business duties first, then she will arrange to set some time aside to work on her new product project.  People, that is how it is done.  She is disciplined and advancing.  These are two very important business strategies to support, disciplined and advancing.

Treat your business model with the kind of respect it deserves.  Treat the components of your business model with all of the respect it deserves.  Do the routine stuff that is required to be done.  Get a workable system in place that allows those routine responsibilities to be completed in a timely fashion.  Make sure they get done.  Adopt the "Get R' Done" mentality on those routine matters and responsibilities.  Remove the "I will get to it later" approaches.  Those kinds of afflictions cost way too much to manage.  Be efficient.  Be effective with the routine requirements your business model requires.  Get R' Done!  Then once it is completed for the day, go find a great project to begin to introduce.  Find a project that will enhance how you work, where you work, what kinds of added results you can improve and one that provides new interest in the daily stuff you must adhere to in your routine doings.  Develop a project you can finish.  Do not start a project with the idea that you only need to start one.  You need to finish it as well.  There is no "Maybe" to the idea of "Get R' Done."

We will tackle the house paint job with our weekend slots that we have set aside.  We also set aside some afternoon and evening time slots to keep us on a reasonable time track to complete the paint job.  We will avoid adding any extra other projects to our lives until that paint project is completed.  We will discover some urges to do other things while we are working to paint our house, but the paint project is our current focus.  We will turn down and avoid those other urges until this current paint project is completed.  That is how a business should also be operated.  The "Get R' Done" concept should become the silent mantra to the business leaders functional drums.  Business leaders need to become very focused at what they routinely do and very specific about how they introduce new projects to complete.

It is vital to the well-being of the business leader and to the business model that new projects are always coming into the scene of business play.  New projects provide vitality to the model of design.  However, if new projects are introduced just for the sake of doing something new, quit it.  New projects that carry no real improvement purpose are the kinds of things that will eventually kill the business model.  Do not introduce new projects because you are bored with the ones you should be doing.  That kind of introduction can be very destructive.  Never introduce new projects until you have set up your path of business leadership with all of your routine responsibilities falling into the realm of "Get R' Done."  There should be no questionable efforts about "maybe-maybe not" applied to the routine stuff that needs to be done.  Before any new projects can be introduced properly, the routine requirements need to remain under the roof of "Get R' Done."  Learn how to stick to knitting and make sure you respect first things first.  Once that has been set in stone, begin the work on finding productive and useful areas to introduce some exciting new projects.

Paint your building if you have a brick and mortar facility.  Remodel the office.  Develop a new and exciting marketing series.  Introduce a new employee training program that is unique, effective and imaginative.  Begin the work on a new product design.  Start developing a new series of joint promotions with other like business models.  Set aside some time to discover where you business model can become better acquainted with its community.  Develop a new student program for your local high school to include in their life training.  Host a benefit dinner for local extraordinary achievements.  Get busy introducing new projects that your business model can lead.  Give life to your business efforts.  Find ways to make your work become more interesting to do.  Get excited about the new paint color on your home!  Find a way to make it happen, arrange the method you plan to use and go "Get R' Done."  Let's go...your business model is waiting to explode!

Until next time...