Does your business have a season? Do you need one? I was at the bus stop last month when a neighbor was talking about her husband’s racing team being a contender for the series championship in the race that weekend. She was excited. She was supportive. She had a stake in the outcome.
His team won the series that weekend. He returned to the bus stop the next week with a renewed sense of job satisfaction. “It’s nice to win.” Anybody who has ever walked out the door and headed to a job or school knows it’s nice to win. The trouble with most jobs (not school, they grade you) is that it’s hard to know if you are winning. Every day looks the same. Every project feels the same. Everything blends together and becomes gray. Being able to hoist a trophy at the end of a season turns all the shades of gray into vivid colors. Like a crisp golden sunset, you see the ending and anticipate the sunrise.
A common reason people leave their jobs is because it is uninspiring – a bad boss, a lame vision, disorganization, unclear goals, and other lackluster, uninspiring junk that clutters your head. What if all businesses had their own ‘season’ where they either won or lost? What if there was a bit of an offseason and there was certainly a post-season campaign (playoffs)? What if every business had something to rally around and had to perform as a synchronized team to accomplish the known goals that constituted a win? What if, right?
If you are running a business that’s not in the business of professional sports, maybe you need a season? Maybe at the very least you need a clean, clear set of goals and clear responsibilities for how the team accomplishes those goals. Maybe you need a season where your position is declared with celebration and planning for next season following closely? Fundamental to every person’s satisfaction is being valued. Do the people you work with feel valued? Do the people you live with feel valued? Are you valued at work and at home? A season might not be the answer but it certainly provides me with a valued perspective.