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You are a dreamer, a visionary, the creative mind that builds the ideas. You are the entrepreneur. Is the way you think of yourself? But what is an entrepreneur really? I know there is a lot of debate about this, but the literal definition is a person who organizes and operates a business. Businesses need both components……….the dream, the vision, and the ideas organized in a way that creates a business. Creating a business means creating profit for the owners. It is a delicate balance of science and art. But what gives you the space to dream the dream and see the vision?
It may be counterintuitive, but the more science you can apply to your business, the more room there will be for the art……the creativity.
There are laws of business. Math rules. Revenue minus expenses equals profits…….every time. You can’t create your own reality distortion field and also survive as a company. But how you create revenue, and your cost structure is only limited by your creativity. You need the art to create differentiation from your competition, create value for your customers. So how do you use science to make more room for art?
Systems & Processes – If you want something to happen predictably and consistently you systemize it. Random processes produce random results. Systems take time at first time to develop, but it is an investment that pays back every time you use it. What are the benefits of creating systems?
- Systems keep everyone on the same page. Everyone is moving in the same direction
- Systems prevent bottle necks. If a decision needs to be made each time, things slow down until it is made.
- Systems give you a baseline to develop improvements. A regular review helps you create continuous improvement and space for growth.
Habits – The benefit of habit is that it takes the mental effort out of your systems and processes. Mental effort that can be saved for the creative side. You don’t spend time thinking about “brushing your teeth” kinds of processes. They just happen. In the book The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg discusses not only how to break bad habits, but how to build good habits. Build the habit into the systems and processes. Save the brain power for solving your customers pain points in better ways than your competition.
The power of habits also compound over time. Seemingly small habits executed on a regular and consistent basis have the power to produce extraordinary results. The problems is that in the beginning it is very difficult to see the difference. It may seem like it doesn’t matter. But they do, because of the compound effect. Small things compounded over time seem to suddenly appear huge….out of nowhere. It didn’t come out of nowhere, but that is how it seems because it is so small in the beginning and then exponentially grows. There are two excellent books that I have read on this topic that you might want to check out.
The Compound Effect, by Darren Hardy
Rituals – Creating rituals around activites, especially stressful ones seems to help in the execution of the activity. This one may seem odd, but there is data to support it. When I first heard of this idea, it was given as a productivity tip that was called “do the dishes”. It was really a ritual that he engaged in to cue his mind that he was preparing for work. I tried it out and it seemed to work. But then I tried a completely different ritual, and that worked too. Then I heard Derek Halpern interview Francesca Gino. Her research supports the idea of the benefits of rituals. It also shows that it doesn’t matter what the ritual is, or even if the person believes in rituals, it is a cue for a desired activity that works.
Automation – Automation is a powerful tool that enhances systems and processes, builds the habit in and eliminates the need for the ritual. Look for ways to automate that work with inertia. Think about how this can be applied. When I worked in the corporate world we applied this to the 401(k) plan. We set aside a time to meet with people to have them complete their enrollment forms. They were strongly encouraged to complete them on the spot so inertia couldn’t kick in to prevent them from doing it. If they didn’t complete it there, they were given a strict deadline when the form was to be completed and they were reminded to get the form in. We knew that once the decision was made to participate in the plan and they signed up, the automation kicked in and they typically became consistent savers.
Then we thought about inertia and how it could be used in a different way. We changed enrollment to automatically signing them up for the plan. They could always opt out, but the opt in was automated. Inertia kept people from opting out. And more people became savers.
Look for things to automate that eliminate multiple steps and decisions. For example, bill paying became an obvious choice for automation. If you set up the electric bill to be automatically paid on the 12th of the month, you don’t have to spend time handling the bill, putting it into your reminder system for when the bill should be paid, then setting aside time to sit down and write the check and finally get it into the mail. Automation takes all of the actions and the decisions out of the equation. What other activities can be set up like this as well? Rote tasks are prime targets.
All of these things take work to implement but the time and the energy spent is really an investment that keeps paying dividends. It is the temporary focus on building the systems and processes that can give you the time and freedom to focus on the creativity. Executing well on the science will give you the freedom for the art.
What ideas do you have to help you create more creativity in your business?
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