In The Immortal Words Of Pogo, We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us
“We have met the enemy and he is us.” A profound statement made famous by Pogo, a popular comic strip character of the 1950′s-60′s. It endures because it is so true.
I have constantly expounded to my clients that my consulting mission is all about creating change. Helping the business owner make changes in their business organization first requires deep personal changes within the owner’s heart and soul. As we all know, if we continue to do what we have always done we will get the same results, good or bad. Intellectually, we all understand that, and we all say we want to change, but it is difficult to break life-long patterns of action and response, very difficult indeed. Look at the millions of weight-loss and exercise program attempts made by people every day, or the multitude of New Year’s Eve resolutions we make each year and fail to implement. The success ratio is extremely low. So why should I expect lifetime changes in the business owner or even attempt to instigate them while attempting to support change at the business level?
It’s a great question, and the answer is simple: Despite challenge and difficulty, people want more. They want to do better and if the only path to reaching their goals is through internal change then that’s the mission I have committed myself to accomplish. The goal then becomes identifying those who will accept the challenge and work diligently to accomplish the goals and commit to change within.
The good news is that it can be done. I am currently consulting with a number of wonderful clients who are deeply committed to change and working diligently at making the adjustments required. Their rewards are incredibly satisfying as they discover their own barriers and commit to changing their ways. The result is a greater understanding of their own process that leads to an ability to make the required changes in their lives and ultimately in their businesses to make successful results attainable. These businesses are better every day. They are more profitable, more in control, more stable, and are experiencing controlled growth. We are reaching the goals we subscribed to. Is it easy? No. Painful? Yes, but absolutely worth it. Do they slip and fall off the horse occasionally? Yes, but they get back on the horse and onward through the fog they go, battling the demons of habit–old habits, unproductive habits–and creating new strategies and plans. It can be done.
However, there are other clients who are feeling the same pain they have always felt, the pain of frustration, the pain of inability to reach their goals, the pain of inadequate revenue or lack of profitability, the pain resulting from lack of success. Apparently the pain is not yet unbearable enough to make them quit stumbling on the same issues. These people need to make personal changes within so they can get over their current mind-set and do the job of making the required changes in their business.
What is holding them back I ask? They ask, everyone asks. They are not yet ready to make personal, internal changes and are thus not yet ready to make the changes in their business that will improve their entire lives. Their egos are controlling their destinies, thus they repeat the same patterns and make the same mistakes over and over. Is there hope for these people? Of course, and I will continue to work with them, asking them the same questions over and over and providing the same solutions over and over which intellectually make sense but emotionally appear impossible to overcome. Meanwhile, they remain stuck in their ways–their unchanged ways–and they cannot yet make the internal changes they need to succeed.
If the issue is growing your business and the requirement is more sales calls, that if made would overcome the obstacles, why not make the calls? It’s not a difficult issue, but it appears to be an impossible task that frequently cannot be accomplished. If the issue is collecting receivables and all it takes is a communications program that we have put together but the calls simply do not get made because it is not a palatable process, the receivables remain old and the job undone. Why? Again, unwilling to make the changes.
It is far too easy to do the same things we always do and to expect different results. It’s also silly. Talk is cheap, change is tough, but there are many willing to take the journey if only someone will help them find the way. I applaud those that ask for help and then accept the herculean task of following the path and making the changes required. That’s what is at the heart of the successful small businessman, a willingness to learn and change. That’s the mission that results in success. Pogo had it right, we have met the enemy and he is us.
