K.I.S It's not that kind of tutorial, keep it simple..

Hey, y’all! Brent Perry with Business on Purpose.

I think there are times that we can overthink our businesses. 

Our strategies, our processes, our employees' production, our sales, you name it... we can overthink it. 

An article written in the Harvard Business Review written by Melody Wilding, states, 

“Deliberation is an admirable and essential leadership quality that undoubtedly produces better outcomes. 

But there comes a point in decision making where helpful contemplation can turn into overthinking. To stop the cycle of thinking too much and drive towards better, faster decisions you can: Wilding suggests. 

Put aside perfectionism, right-size the problem, leverage the underestimated power of intuition, limit the drain of decision fatigue, and construct creative constraints.

I remember planning out the proposal to my wife. I spent weeks going through different plans and ideas. It had to be special. I wanted it to be perfect. The wheels were turning. It felt like it was all I could think about. And a couple of weeks into the planning of the big day, I noticed... I was way overthinking this moment. I’m talking about the actual moment of the proposal. I had stopped thinking about what this moment stood for, the fact that I was going to ask the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, to marry me. 

I still felt that way, and yes, we are happily married to this day... but in that moment I took my eyes off the big picture. It became about one singular moment that I felt had to be just perfect. And in reality, that wasn’t even the point. Did Alissa deserve a great gesture in the proposal, yes... did she care about how grand the gesture was... no. I had to put aside perfectionism for a minute, and go back to telling myself what this moment was really about, and what it represented. 

It puts the proposal into perspective, and helped me make it our special moment. 

So, are you overthinking in your business? Again, let’s go back to the quote from the Harvard Business Review…

“But there comes a point in decision making where helpful contemplation can turn into overthinking.”

There is a balance after all. As a small business owner, if you’re not thinking and planning in your business, who is? But don’t get trapped into overthinking some of your decisions. 

A couple of suggestions:

 

     1. Go back to your vision story! 

 

As we say at Business on purpose, “Vision is historic, vision is necessary, vision is powerful and when vision is absent it leads to chaos.”

 

     2. Review your core values. 

 

A lens through which powerful decisions should be made. 

 

     3. Trust the accountability in your life. 

 

This can be a coach, a teammate, your spouse, a mentor, a group like a mastermind. 

These are just a few simple ideas to help you keep it simple in moments you feel yourself start to take your eye off the big picture. 

Your business is important, and decisions need to be made everyday. Some of this requires you to do work on the front end (i.e. create or update your vision, writing out your unique core values, etc). 

But you will be thankful for the time in the long run as you begin to K.I.S. (keep it simple).

Thanks for listening. 

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