by Shawn | Mar 19, 2021 | Podcast
B25… BINGO! I was amazed when I found out a hidden fact about BINGO, but it clued me in to something that happens a lot in business as well: we don’t see the whole board!
Sometimes, our eyes can deceive us. We may think we have all the information in front of us… but we’re really missing something.
And usually, when that happens, we make bad decisions or we feel the wrong way about a situation we’re in.
But if we knew the whole story, we might think differently.
I was reminded of this one time with a simple game of BINGO.
You ever played BINGO? Pretty straightforward, right?
You’ve got a sheet that’s got 25 squares on it and then five letters across the top: B-I-N-G-O.
Each square has a number and when your letter and number is called, you get to cross off that square.
All you have to do… is get five squares in a row in any orientation… and you win!
Well, I was playing BINGO and had my board and was ready to go. Number after number began to get called. “B3″… “G60″… “N32”.
At first I had a couple matches and crossed them off. Things we’re looking pretty good for a victory.
But then, as the letters and numbers continued to be drawn… every… single… one was missing from my board.
I was looking at the list of drawn numbers as it continued to grow and then staring blankly at my mostly empty board.
“How is this possible?” I asked myself. How could so many numbers be drawn that weren’t on my board?
Eventually, someone else won and I accepted defeat. But I needed answers, darn it! So, I went to the Google.
As it turns out that the 25 squares shown on anyone’s board are only ONE THIRD of the total.
There are actually 75 total squares and fifteen numbers for each column, even though any board only shows five.
It all started to make a little more sense at that point.
I was frustrated because I didn’t have all the information.
I felt like I should have won three times already when, in actuality, my chances of winning were still fairly low because of all the extra numbers that I couldn’t see.
And the same is true for you and I. Every day, there is a lot that we don’t see. Every time we’re faced with a decision to make. Every email we get ready to reply to. Every customer complaint or quality issue that we try to get to the bottom of….
Assume that each one is actually a BINGO board with squares that are missing. There is more to the story.
So don’t let your eyes or the information you’ve been given lie to you. Take a minute to consider what might not be visible right now and put in the work to find out those other details.
You’ll save yourself a lot of stress on the back end.
And… next time you play BINGO, just make sure you get the board with the right numbers to start with.
I hope you’ve been getting value from these episodes. If you have, I’d love it if you left a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite player. It truly means a lot and lets me help even more people. Thanks so much.
by Shawn | Mar 17, 2021 | Podcast
Have you ever cooked pancakes?
At our house, we love making things from scratch when we can, but we’ve also used those pre-made mixes as well.
The images on the side of the box just make my mouth water. That huge stack of pancakes with the butter slightly melting on top and the syrup slowly dripping down along all of the edges and ending a pool of brown sugary goodness on the plate.
So, you open the box, measure out the mix, add water, mix together in a bowl and there you go. Pancakes. Right?
Well, for some reason, that creamy liquid in the bowl doesn’t quite resemble what I see on the package.
Why?
Because they aren’t pancakes… yet.
They obviously still need to be cooked on a skillet to become that delicious meal that you’ve already imagined devouring in your mind.
Yet.
I’ve really come to love that word.
I love it because, with just three little letters it packs an incredible punch.
It speaks of potential, of what could be. It breaks through barriers, both mental and physical.
Yet is a powerful word and should be added into our vocabulary more often.
Think of any of the barriers or limitations that you feel in your business. Many of them may feel definitive. They may just feel like how things are now and how they’re going to be in the future. There might be even a hopelessness regarding any change to the what things will look like down the road.
Maybe you’re struggling with a team member who just isn’t grasping something. A skill. A company value. Communication. You’re starting to believe that it’s just not going to work out with them.
And maybe you’re right. If you’ve done your due diligence and gone out of your way to try to understand and help, it’s possible that they just aren’t a good fit.
But before you throw in the towel, try using “yet” a little bit more in your company language.
Instead of “she just isn’t able to make rate”, add “…yet” at the end. And let yet guide you with questions like “what would have to happen to get her there?”. Maybe it’s a training issue. Maybe some miscommunication. Maybe struggles at home. If she has the desire, yet opens the door to further explore what might be missing.
Yet is like a foot that keeps a door from closing. It forces us to rethink, to explore, to question. Maybe it’s your people, maybe it’s a machine or process or software that isn’t cutting it right now.
Before you give up on it, let yet give you the push to dig a little deeper.
And in pushing deeper, you might, indeed find that the door should be shut. But you’ll have given yourself the chance to exhaust all options first with the hope that there is still value there that can be unearthed.
So where can you use yet this week? As you look at the challenges you’re facing, try adding it more into your vocabulary and see how it shifts the conversation.
As for those pancakes, they aren’t totally eaten… yet. But if you don’t hurry up and grab the last stack they will be.
I hope you’ve been getting value from these episodes. If you have, I’d love it if you left a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite player. It truly means a lot and lets me help even more people. Thanks so much.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode.
