If something doesn’t feel right in your business but you’re not sure what the problem is, you will almost certainly benefit from more self-reflection. For business leaders this is probably the single most helpful tool to grapple with the challenge of putting strategy before diagnostics, policies and actions (and not skipping straight to the “right” actions).
The best example I can think of is the 2003 rugby world cup final. The scores are tied 14-14 at full time, and Jonny Wilkinson kicks a drop goal in the final minute of extra time to win the match. It encapsulates what the French microbiologist Louis Pasteur meant when he said: “In the fields of observation chance favours only the prepared mind.”
Any one of the 22 million people watching the match might have observed that a kick would win it, and any mercurial talent could have kicked it, but the crucial point is that the England team weren’t interested in giving just anyone the opportunity. In the minutes leading up to the crucial moment the team does everything in its power to put Wilkinson within kicking range and give him the ball.
At one point the best person to serve Wilkinson is stuck at the bottom of a ruck, so the other players recycle the ball to give him time to get in position. Finally, in what seems like slow motion, he’s ready and he receives the ball and passes it to Wilkinson, who kicks the winning three points.
There are undoubtedly still some elements of luck at play, but when you watch the England players (apologies to our Australian readers) it’s obvious they have been preparing their minds for a moment like this. Everyone on the pitch and the bench knows what is happening. There is only one chance to get those priceless three points. Every known tangible thing must be done to boost the odds of making the kick successful.
Self-reflection is the same as Pasteur’s word “observation”. It’s the process which drives improvement, so that you increase your odds of success each time an opportunity arises. It’s the process which enables you to keep learning things that might be valuable in all sorts of unforeseen situations, and you never stop learning. Pasteur, who was good at this and applied it to save countless lives through his discoveries of the principles of vaccination and pasteurisation, noted: “My strength lies solely in my tenacity.”
This ongoing reprogramming of the mind is akin to a brain implant on each of your team members, who become equipped with a priori knowledge (which proceeds from theoretical deduction) so that in any given situation they understand what to do even if, like in 2003, it’s unfamiliar. Producing this a priori structure, for instance by understanding each player’s strong suits, binds your actions to your strategy in a game of rugby. It works the same in the massively more complex game of business too.
If you need help divising a strategy for your dental business please get in touch on 01872 300232 or email us at hello@hivebusiness.co.uk.
