We’ve Got A System For That

Ever been amazed when something you thought was happening isn’t? Ever blow up on an employee because “there’s a system for that”? If you created a system, or even bought a system or borrowed a system, then it should be working, right? Once you have a system, you can put the plane on autopilot and cruise towards your destination of greater profits and no headaches, right?

Yeah, right…

Ok, so that sounds ridiculous. Yet so many business owners create a system once and never revisit it. It’s as though the system is a decree; “I hereby decree that this system, no matter how old, antiquated, or inadequate will be our system for doing this task until the end of time.”

Or there’s this one, “I’ve got a system (or six) for that. Why can’t you follow it. It’s right here in one of these six binders. Anyone can plainly see there is a boatload of information on that.” Again, how asinine does this sound as you read it? Yet I see it over and over again (see the picture above which is a real picture of an office with SIX different policies on the same subject! SIX!!!)

Both of these instances happen far too often, yet both are completely unacceptable. If you created your system 20 years ago, it may be time to look at it anew. Ask these questions of an old system:

1. Does it still function as efficiently as it once did? If not, why not? How could it be improved?
2. Do I have problems with this system working sporadically? Could these be resolved?
3. Are other businesses doing it differently with more success? How can I emulate that?
4. Is this system causing other systems to back up or function less effectively?

On the other hand, some businesses TOTALLY RECREATE a system every now and then and end up with 6 different “systems” for the same protocol or operation. Hmm, kinda defeats the purpose of a system doesn’t it?! Here are some ideas to avoid this pitfall:

1. If a system has some kinks that can be ironed out, rewrite the existing system. Don’t recreate the wheel and leave the old wheel laying around for new employees to be unknowingly roll out ten years from now.

2. If the system has been proven ineffective, destroy it completely and replace it with a system that works. Leaving an old, dysfunctional system around is a recipe for disaster.

People will leave your company, even the good ones, and you don’t want old renditions of your systems surfacing in your business again. They needed to be removed for a reason; having them come back could spell months of unnecessary work and could cost you big time.

Remember: The entire concept behind an effective business system is that ANYONE can use it.

One Final Thought: Everything can’t be systematized

Limitation, What Limitations?

I had the pleasure of meeting Nelson Marquina, PhD today. He is doing some amazingly innovative things with lasers in the health care field.  Dr. Marquina is a physicist who once worked with NASA and has now turned his passion for the laser into a life mission.  He actually created a laser (this is what physicists do for fun) that is unlike any other laser on the planet.  He is using this “pulse laser” (which pulses at up to 80,000 pulses per second!) to treat every type of ailment imaginable at the mitochondrial (cellular) level.   These ailments include everything from muscle, joint and tendon injuries, to liver and kidney diseases, to hair loss.  He has even successfully treated patients in Peru with life threatening heart conditions which some of his peers found unbelievable.  This is truly ground breaking stuff.

Now what does this have to do with you?  Everything.  You see, Dr. Marquina has been fighting against all odds for most of his career.  He is constantly being told that he cannot achieve what he is setting out to do, even when his data conclusively proves it!  The FDA and other regulatory agencies won’t even let him preform clinical trials in the U.S., so he travels to Peru where his work is literally saving lives.

The point is, there are no limitations.  The only limitations to human achievement are those that you allow yourself to believe.  The human mind, along with willpower, imagination, determination and hard work- can achieve anything.

Think about it, before the Wright brothers flew their first airplane, everyone said it couldn’t be done.  Even close friends and relatives of the Wright brothers said they were crazy.

It used to be, if you lost a limb, you were confined to a wheel chair for the rest of your life.  But that wasn’t good enough, and now there are artificial limbs that allow amputees to run marathons and participate in competitive sporting events.  Unbelievable, the human spirit.

We’ve gone from thatch huts to skyscrapers, wooden canoes to jet boats capable of 200mph+, not flying at all to landing on the moon, the candle to light bulbs that last 5 years and up, stone tables to teraflops of information available in a matter of seconds.

There are no limitations to what you can achieve, if you put your mind to it.  Don’t have all the pieces?  Don’t be discouraged.  Build from what you have and search out other resources to help you fill in the gaps.  The important thing is to keep pushing forward.  Dr. Marquina may discover a way to fight cancer, heal muscle, joint, tendon, and ligament injuries, even fix previously irreversible spinal injuries.  But if he had given up when the powers that be told him he couldn’t do that, all of that would be lost.  The key is to persevere in the face of adversity.  See a setback as an opportunity for advancement.  Study failures to glean information about how to improve results in the future.

Be passionate about what you do, no matter what you do, and you will see that there are no limitations to what you can achieve.

-Brian Forrester