The past several years have shown a lot of chaos in our world. From the pandemic, to the economy, to our current presidential race, we’ve had to navigate chaos in our businesses, in our households, and as a society. This has an effect on our leadership and our employees and has widened the divide between groups of people in our society. Now more than ever, we need business innovation.
Today, I’m talking about how we can close the divide between leadership and employees, to bring people back together. I’m sharing how we need to reign in the chaos while also creating that space for business innovation.
Navigating the Chaos
I work predominantly with brick and mortar businesses, and I noticed that during the pandemic, many organizations were transparent about their plans and expectations. Since then, however, transparency has decreased. Business owners and leaders are not as up front as far as what’s really happening and what their expectations are in the face of major inflation and fluctuation in the economy. People are starting to go into crisis mode – just like they did in the 2020 pandemic, and the 2008 recession.
The Impact of Economic Pressures
Many leaders have responded to economic pressures by focusing on profit margins, which often leads to cutting employees and marketing efforts. They’re doing things like cutting health insurance and making customers pay their own credit card fees. They’re trying to recoup money just so the business can survive and look better.
I’d argue that while it may seem necessary to cut costs during tough times, this approach is shortsighted. Instead, leaders should focus on reining in chaos and get innovative with new possible solutions.
My Story of Creating Space for Business Innovation
For example, during the recession of 2008, I was working at a small business. The leadership and I had conversations about how to increase cash flow. They were considering letting people go, cutting marketing, cutting health insurance, and cutting any other expenses they could. I encouraged them to think about different solutions – which resulted in launching a private label product line that generated $2 million of revenue. We reigned in the chaos and created space for business innovation.
Learning from the Past
History has shown that periods of economic instability often lead to panic, stagnation, or innovation. When we look at the Great Depression, 2008, 2016, or 2020, there’s three main steps I notice people and businesses go through: They panic, they deal with it as the new normal, and then they either learn from what’s happening or they stagnate.
I’ve noticed many businesses stay in a place of comfort. They just do what they need to do to survive. I call that functioning in chaos, which doesn’t work. It leads to stagnation because you’re letting your circumstances dictate your next steps.
Instead, I want you to think about doing something different. Don’t be someone who stays in a place of comfort and accepts the new normal. Instead, be someone who reigns in chaos and creates space to innovate. That is how you are going to be in that small percentage of business owners who thrive, build a strong foundation for your business, and get ahead of the game.
When faced with challenges in our business, here are three areas of focus for leaders to help reign in the chaos and create space for business innovation.
Focus Areas for Success: Processes, People, and Priorities
Processes
Streamlining processes is the first step in reigning in chaos. Clear, efficient processes provide structure and help teams move from point A to point B in the shortest amount of steps with the highest impact. This not only reduces stress but also frees up time for creative thinking.
Many business owners struggle because they lack defined processes, leading to inefficiencies and inconsistencies in their operations. Once defined processes are in place, the business will run better, and people will have the space to be creative and innovative to find new solutions to the problems the business is facing.
People
The next step is ensuring that the right people are in the right roles. This involves assessing whether each team member’s skills and strengths align with their responsibilities. If not, it may be necessary to reassign roles or, in some cases, part ways with individuals who are not a good fit.
Everyone should be standing shoulder to shoulder and acting as a team. If they’re not, it’s up to us as leaders to make a change. It’s important to approach these decisions with empathy and a focus on what’s best for both the individual and the organization.
Priorities
Finally, leaders must focus on what’s most important to the business. They should focus on the 20% of things that bring the most fulfillment and most cash into the business. If you find your business is doing too many things, it’s time to reign in that chaos and focus on the things you do or sell that are most impactful.
Business owners need to set clear priorities that align with the organization’s long-term goals. This may involve making difficult decisions about where to allocate resources or which projects to pursue. By focusing on what truly matters, leaders can create an environment where innovation can thrive, even in the midst of chaos.
Four Things to Think About Over the Next Six Months
As you’re working on building your business over the next six months, here are three things I want to encourage you to focus on to create space for innovation:
- Become success aware: Define what success means to you. Make sure that you’re celebrating the wins and you’re navigating losses with your team and learning from them.
- Be curious: Always be curious about how the world works and how your business works and figure out how you can make the two work together.
- Build character: You want to be willing to fail and learn from it. The most successful people are never afraid to fail. They always get back up.
- Become a master of self: Honor the journey you’re on, and make sure your team is honoring that journey. We need to lead with heart, and make sure we’re being empathetic and inspire greatness in everyone.
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