“should” be happening?5 What “would” be happening if…?
Take some time and ask yourself each of the above questions. Answer each question in your mind and write a “snapshot” description as completely, but concisely as you can about the key areas, elements, circumstances and conditions of your business. This isn’t intended to be a comprehensive diagnostic but a solid assessment of the current reality and future possibilities. Think of this process in terms of creating a one-page assessment and not a wide-ranging prescription or complete cure to what ails your business just yet.
The key here is to develop a baseline of “what is” and to shift your mind from what is and what was to “what will be”.
The Turnaround Mindset
Every action begins with a thought or an intention to make something happen.
Effective action begins with effective thinking and focused intent. “right- thinking” creates “right-results.”
With the right mindset
you can do just about
anything.”
Before you do anything else, it is vitally important that you spend time right now ensuring that your frame of mind is right for what you want to achieve. Withoutthe right mental attitude, an effective focus and clear-headed thinking, your chances of success are marginal at best. With the right mindset, you can do just about anything.
So what is the ‘right’ mindset? How do you go about changing your thinking or your focus if you’re not getting the results you want with your current frame of mind? Interesting question.
Let’s start by thinking about what the ‘right’ mindset actually is. Mindset is a term that refers to a particular mental framework, a pattern of thinking, or a prevailing attitude about what is and what’s possible. It involves prejudices, expectations and beliefs and sums up the way your mind is positioned or your thinking is directed at a particular point in time. Whether it is right or wrong, correct or incorrect comes down to deciding how it fits with the task you want to apply it to and if you’re getting the results you want.
Is your current way of thinking getting you the results you want in your business? Has your current set of beliefs, biases, and assumptions gotten you all of the rewards and returns you want or deserve? Has your current frame of mind and patterns of perception planted the seeds necessary for your future success? Maybe, maybe not.
For instance, when you are feeling overwhelmed, scattered, confused or simply battered by circumstance, it might not be the right time to make a life-altering decision about your business. Or to be more specific, you shouldn’t change your business model, your marketing method, or product or service offering out of sheer desperation or utter uncertainty.
Now this doesn’t mean to say that you shouldn’t make decisions or implement changes at all. What it does mean is you would be better off shifting your mindset to a point of focused possibility rather than overwhelmed impossibility or hopeless improbability. Even in the darkest situations, the focus of the business owner and the organization must be on opportunity rather than problems. Knowing the cause of a problem without defining the opportunity for a solution is virtually worthless.
You need not only hope for something better but gather the confidence that comes from forming a well-thought-out plan of action geared toward the results you want to achieve.
As you begin, it’s time now to think a little more deeply about the concepts of forming a turnaround mindset so that you will be able to understand them within the context of change.
The first thing you must wrap your mind around and accept is that “stuff happens”. Change occurs - it’s a fact of life and a fact of business. What “was” probably isn’t what “is”, and what “is” won’t always be. Just because business was good yesterday doesn’t guarantee that tomorrow or even today your business will succeed or even survive. Change is a law of the universe. As Jack Welch, former CEO of GE said, “You’ve got to learn to eat change for breakfast.”
There are immutable laws of the universe, like gravity, that we must live within — like it or not, we’re stuck with it. We can ignore gravity or we can be aware of it, abide by it and even overcome it by understanding it. Understanding is the key - it’s how we learned to fly in spite of the odds.
Like gravity, change is an immutable law. Nothing can exist, survive, thrive or succeed in its original form forever, but that’s great news. Even though life and your business are subject to change, you have something to start with, something to change and something to build on.
All things change eventually. Change is scary for a lot of people. They feel uncertain, out-of-control or helpless. Still, other people feel exhilarated, emboldened or filled with a sense of infinite possibility. What makes the difference?
The difference is the mindset people carry with regard to change.
People who are afraid of change usually feel they are the “victim of change” rather than the “creator of change”. One is affected by change; the other is the catalyst and director of change. To some, change happens; to others they plan to make changes happen.
How do YOU view change? How should you view change? How will you view change now, from this moment forward?
You have to have a plan from which to build your foundation; from there you begin to take action. You must have a way to measure your progress against your plan; to monitor your performance and direct your resources toward the right activities that support your plan to ensure the change and successful results. Having a foundation beneath you and the business you are building can go a long way in creating the “right mindset” for a turnaround.
Another fact of change is that success is not always a straight road. In fact, over the long haul, it NEVER is. There will be twists and turns along the way. There’ll be bumps and potholes you didn’t see or intend. You’re going to be faced with the challenge of consistently taking the right action in the face of changes you couldn’t predict in the marketplace, your competition, the economy and within your business or organization. You may slow down, stall or breakdown along the way. You must be able to adapt your actions, environment and your approach to keep on your intended course of change and improvement if you want to turn around your business.
The road to turning a business around can be long, it can be hard, and frankly, if it were as simple as having a good attitude and a plan, you wouldn’t need this book. If it were as simple as getting started and making a single change — one time — and never having to change again, you’d have made that change long ago and probably be on a never-ending vacation of self-satisfaction.
“it’s easy to make changes and get immediate results”
Indeed, old habits die hard. Change is not an event; it’s a process. Understanding that is the key to having a “turnaround mindset”. Having a plan - one that is well-thought-out and has an intended direction or outcome - is vital. Believing that you can and will do whatever it takes to succeed can make the difference between being “almost there” and being exactly where you want to be.
Here’s a seductive proposition - it’s easy to make changes and get immediate results and improvement
