Heart Transplant a Huge Success

One of my closest friends was on the heart transplant list for some considerable  months and was not expected to last another winter.  We received the great news that he had had the transplant and all was going really well.  I spoke with him just 3 days after the op and he was a new man. I have been following his progress and we speak each week – here is what I found so interesting.

Just 2 weeks after the op, so many things had changed, his hearing was improving, his sight was sharpening, his taste was returning and his overall wellbeing was vastly improved.  What he had not realised that for 3 and a half years since he was first diagnosed, his body was slowly shutting down, in fact it was so slow that he had hardly noticed.  This is what I call imperceptible drift.

It was not until he had the new lease of life that he really noticed just how far he had drifted from “normal” operations.

So what does this have to do with business?  Ill tell you what: your business has an imperceptible drift, it is drifting and you don’t see it as you are living with it each and every day.  Slowly slowly, your business drifts, your invoicing, your customer service, your quality, your staff attitudes and so much more.  Now it may not be that your business is actually drifting from its standards but something else might be drifting and you might not be noticing.  Your competitors improving or offering new services or service levels, the market shifting ie.e going more online, the economy and interest rates are just a few examples.

What I find as a Coach when I first approach a new client is that, almost without fail, the business owner has an inflated view of his / her business and the way it is performing.  Benchmarks to me are historical only a numerical view of how others are doing, they do not measure the intangible service offerings.  We give an outsiders view of how the business is going compared with dozens of other industry types.

DOES YOUR BUSINESS NEED A HEART TRANSPLANT? Or are you going to be a donor?

Do you need an outsiders view how just how well you are doing?  What would a major transplant do for your business?

By the way, my friend is doing awesome, the new heart is going strong and he improves daily.  Looks like he will last a whole lot more winters thanks of course to the donor!!!