Are you quick to make changes to the latest greatest tool or tactic? Do you suffer from shiny object syndrome?

 

Today we are going to talk about something that I’ve recently had to do some inner work on… how to process and deal with shiny objects. I’ve been looking inward to figure out what I need to incorporate into my business vs. what are the distractions that could derail me. 

 

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How To Evaluate A Change

Recently I took some time off from my business, and as I found myself with some extra time, I noticed that I also picked up some extra habits that go hand in hand with scrolling… comparison and shiny object syndrome.

 

“Things that I typically block out were permeating me.”

 

I ended up reconsidering the things that I was doing. Things that had been successful for me...

and I started to question my own strategic plan.

 

Today I want to spend some time talking about how I navigated that, and to help bring some clarity to help you the next time you find yourself in that vulnerable place.

 

There are going to be an infinite number of things that will come up in your business journey so the distractions are not going to go away. If it's supposed to be in our business, it has to be the right time and we have to have the right team to explore those new things.

 

“The more mature the business is, the easier it is to resist the distractions.”

Just because the icons in your industry are doing it doesn’t mean you should be doing it. You need to build a business that feels comfortable to you. 

If you have a current tech stack or social media plan, make sure you optimize it. Then you want to test it and if it's not delivering, then you can think about changing it out. But I want you to give a dedicated effort to optimizing what is currently in the business. 

 

Before saying yes to a change, here are some of the things I ask you to consider to make sure you are making a sound decision. 

1. Evaluate Your Vision

Do the work to see your vision for your business. If everything went according to plan with your business between now and the next 3-5 years, what does your business look like? What kind of successes do you have? Where do you want to be? What kind of leader are you? What kind of team do you have? What kind of offers do you have? What kind of revenue are you generating? 

Spend the time to get to that vision.

 

How does having a vision help? If you know where you are going and can see deeper, then it will help you in making a solid decision when navigating a new tool.

 

2. Create a Strategic Plan

How are you strategically going to reach the vision you've set for yourself? 

 

I have licensed a model called the Strategic Mapping Model™. It is part of the Director of Operations Certification, and students are the only ones who are licensed to use this model. Directors of Operations (DOOs) can partner with visionaries to use this model to break down their vision and create a strategic plan. Then the DOO can manage that plan and create those changes.

3. Evaluate the need for change 

What are the pros/cons between what you are using vs. what you could be using? Why do you need to make this change? This will take some of the emotion out of the decision. What are the  risks and benefits?

 

4. Gather Facts

Gather a few facts. What is the actual cost of making a change? Think about it not just in terms of the financial considerations, but what is required of the team. How many hours will this take? Look at the deeper data: how much time will it take, what is the impact of experience on your customers or your team. There are a lot of soft costs in changes. Look at the return of investment, meaning how long will it take you to recoup the cost, time, and energy that you have put into making this change for you to break even. By gathering this data you will have more confidence when you move forward in this. 

5. Evaluate Disruption

What will the disruption be to your business projects and customers? What kind of impact will it have on your business, client projects, or your client load? How will your customers be impacted? There is a lot of work to be done and if you are just trying to fit this in the limited amount of time you have in a day, then the morale, energy, and quality of what you put out will leave you questioning if this was the right path. Look at this through the lens of your customers, clients, or whoever you are working with. 

6. Get Approval 

Once you go through steps 1-5, I want you to get approval from your team, mentor, coach, or mastermind. By going through steps 1-5, you are essentially creating a change management plan, and I want you to present this to your team, a mentor or coach, mastermind or spouse… whoever helps guide your business. Ask them their opinion, give them real facts, and a picture of the impact. Make sure you get multiple opinions before you take action. 

 

“When you are looking to make a change in your strategic plan, you need these vetted by people who have an interest in what you are doing and delivering.”

7. Create a Project Plan

Create a project plan for this change so you can be strategic. Slowly think through all of the implications that a change will bring. For instance, I am currently in the process of changing my funnel software, so my team and I are thinking through how these changes will affect my customers, students and community. 

 

“We tend to minimize how complex change is in a business.”

8. Establish a Communication Plan

If you are going to impact your customers with this change, you will want to establish a communication plan for your customers and your team. Nobody likes to find out these changes after the fact. Get in front of the change and proactively communicate with the people who will be impacted. Allow them to be part of the journey, and you may be able to help someone make a solid (rather than a reactionary) decision. Let them know all of the steps you have gone through so that they know that things may look different. Give them the rationale behind the decision which will help eliminate the frustrations they may feel with the impending change.

9. Quality Control

As with any project, you will want to test and quality control the change before you put it out there. For example if you are moving off of a social media platform and will be engaging less on one platform vs. another, set a time parameter to test the impact. Are you getting the kind of data you expected? 

 

It is impossible to be everywhere on social media or to leverage all of the tools that are out there. Before you make the switch official, test it and make sure it works for you before you go all in. This means you may be paying for overlapping services for a few months, but if you let the old one go too soon it creates too much risk in your business in the event that the new platform does not meet your expectations. You may want to keep the old platform for 6-12 weeks while you are making the switch to the new platform. 

 

10. Switch

Once you have the data and feel confident, you can determine if making the switch will be beneficial to your business. If you don’t go through these steps and shift your focus to something shiny and new you are going to miss something really big.  

 

Remember there’s not one way to do business and there’s no straight path to success. There will be obstacles that will arise and have you rethinking yourself and your plan. Leverage the logical parts of your brain, but when it comes to change management I highly encourage you to be logical. If necessary, partner with someone who can help you be methodical in determining if making this change is right for your business. 

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What’s the last thing that had you considering a change? What is the last shiny object that you have experienced? Let me know if the FB group!

 

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This episode was first published at theopsauthority.com/podcast/81.