In 2004 a little book was published that captured my attention as I strolled through the bookstore on my weekly pilgrimage. The book was entitled, “Good Luck: Creating the Conditions for Success in Life and Business” by Alex Rovira and Fernando Trias de Bes. In spite of the fact that I’m not terribly fond of the business fable, I bought it. It’s a quick read. But the lessons are powerful, especially in a culture where it’s easy for people to feel entitled or victimized.

Over the holidays I spotted it sitting on the shelf, so I grabbed it and read it again while my wife was cooking Christmas day dinner. I hadn’t read it since I first bought it, but it quickly came back to me. The book makes a distinction between Good Luck and luck. Good Luck is intentional involving preparation and work, as opposed to the passive nature of generic luck where we just hope to stumble onto it, or hope it’ll magically find us.

Let me share some of the key principles of the book without giving away the story, but first, let me share a rather famous quote that I’ve posted on my office walls since I was in my 20’s. As a teenager when I first saw it, it was attributed to Goethe, the German philosopher, but who knows? Since then it’s most commonly been attributed to Scottish mountaineer and writer William Hutchison Murray. It speaks to the nature of Good Luck being impacted by human decision, preparation, effort, and determination.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”

It’s easily in my three of all-time favorite quotes. Enjoying it and liking it are much easier than living by it. The difficulty is in the first four words – “until one is committed.” You wouldn’t think commitment would be so tough, but it often is.

The book covers 10 rules that are worthy of your deeper consideration.

Rule 1 – Luck doesn’t last long, because it doesn’t depend on you. Good Luck is created by each of us: that’s why it lasts. The authors make a distinction between luck with a lower case L and Good Luck with an uppercase G and L. 

Random or lower case L luck may be more like serendipity than anything else. It can happen. But it can be elusive, too. Mostly, you don’t have any impact on it. So perhaps serendipity isn’t the best term for it because I think we can influence that, although it’s not fully in our control. Lowercase luck is likely more like that phrase we use when we say, “A blind pig can find one every now and again.” It can happen, even if we’re dumb as a sack of rocks.

Good Luck doesn’t work that way. It’s more lasting and powerful because we absolutely can influence it.

This is the first rule because so many people don’t believe this rule. Those who struggle think those who don’t “are lucky” while they often see themselves as “unlucky.” It’s their reality, but they’re deluded.

Rule 2 – Many want Good Luck, but few are willing to fully pursue it.

It’s here. The last day of the year for the GROW GREAT PODCAST. I hope you’ve found this 5-day journey a profitable way to end the year. I knew of no more powerful way to end the year.

You’re now in the Grand Ballroom of Abundance. You were outside with the masses who lamented all the bad things that happen to them. Pessimism and despair rule their lives. Until you entered the room, you didn’t know there was another way to live. You just supposed you were not among the anointed lucky people who achieve great things. You now know you were wrong.

One of the most important things you learned in this journey is that entrance into the room has NO prerequisites. You wrongly thought you needed permission, some personal invitation to enter. Mostly, you thought you needed to achieve something first, then you’d be allowed inside. Until you started to talking to people who all shared with you the same truth – high achievement happens only once you’re inside the Grand Ballroom of Abundance. It was a big epiphany for you…something you wish you’d known much earlier.

There’s no time to waste.

The Grand Ballroom of Abundance doesn’t care who you are or where you came from. Mostly because everybody inside came in from outside at some point. History is important because every citizen in the room has a context largely determined by their past, but they all realize life happens in the present and future.

Some walked into this room when they were young. Others were old. Some are highly educated. Others never made it past elementary school. There are engineers and scientists and salespeople and clerks. Men, women. People from wealthy families and people who don’t even know who their biological families are. The Grand Ballroom of Abundance respects everybody, discriminates against nobody inside. Nobody INSIDE.

There is only discrimination against people outside. Those folks who refuse to enter. The ones who want to beckon people inside to leave. The Ballroom has no tolerance for them because those people are the enemies of high growth and high achievement. The discrimination isn’t based on anything else.

Now it’s time to get busy. It’s urgent for you to start doing the work as soon as possible because there’s no time to waste. You’re on a new clock now. The past is the past. You’re thankful for what you learned in the past. You’re thankful for everything. You came to understand the Ballroom when you did, and you’re good with it. Now that you’re inside you realize there’s no time to waste wishing you’d found your way inside sooner. That won’t accomplish anything and you know it. Now it’s time to focus on the very reason you wanted to figure out how to get in here – to grow great!

It’s time to GROW GREAT.

The fun begins now. Creativity. Innovation. Improvement. These are now daily activities where you spend all your time. The room will help. It’s an environment that favors growth. The Grand Ballroom of Abundance fosters everything you’ve longed for. Growth and expansion happen because you’re now where you belong AND you’re committed to the work. Both are necessary. For the first time in your life, you have both properly aligned.

The voices and the pull of the outside world is never going to leave you alone. Never.

The abundance they seek is company. They want more people willing to chime in and be negative. Daily you have to make the choice to remain devoted to the abundance of high growth. More and more you have to lower the volume of the distracting voices. Eliminate the ones you can. Suppress the rest.

You’re inside the grand ballroom of abundance, right? You should have entered yesterday, but if you’re still outside, then you need to go back to day 1, 2 and 3. You think you need courage, but you really don’t. Courage is required when fear is present. Well, I suppose there is fear present. That’s why you’re not going inside. But you’re not fearing anything real. You’re only fearful of the boogie man that doesn’t exist. Seems ridiculous that you were once young and naive and thought the boogie man was in your closet or under your bed, right? But you once thought so. This boogie man is no more real than that one.

As much as I wish I could tell you that you’re out of the woods once you enter this grand ballroom of abundance, you’re not. You’re still vulnerable to your old way of thinking even once inside. Like any new environment, it takes a while to get acclimated. So it’s important that you protect yourself from the pull of the old crowd. It’s only natural because you spent so much time outside with the herd – the masses of people too afraid to enter the grand ballroom. You’ll need some time to get adjusted and that’s what we want to focus on today.

Making the decision to leave the masses outside is uncomfortable. Being inside the grand ballroom of abundance is uncomfortable, at first. But it’s only natural. And if you’ll resist the urge to retreat, the reward that awaits is insanely high. It’s beyond anything you’ve ever achieved before. That’s the fear you’re feeling. Fearing the unknown. I want to focus you on what that unknown is really all about though. It’s all about growth, improvement, transformation. It’s unknown GOOD. No, it’s unknown GREATNESS. That crowd outside wants you to be afraid of failing, but that’s all happening outside where they are – where you just came from. They just don’t see it accurately.

When you walk out of a dark room into a room filled with light, your eyes need a moment to adjust. Same thing here. You’ve left the throngs devoted to blaming anything and anybody for failure. You’re now in the bright, optimistic company of high achievers. It’s gonna take a moment to get adjusted. It’s perfectly fine. Don’t panic. And whatever you do, stay away from the door back outside. Get as far from those voices urging you to “Come back!” They’ve got enough company. They don’t need you. Trust me, they’ll never be lonely without you.

Commit To The Fight

I’m not going to lie to you. It’s a fight to enter the grand ballroom and it’s a fight to stay there when you first enter. Totally worthwhile, but still a fight.

Slap those noise canceling headphones on. Shut out all the noise from the people you’ve been surrounded by. They’re not bad people, but they don’t believe in what you’re now seeing. The abundance inside this new space is foreign to them, just like it was for you before you walked in. You now know something they don’t. They’ll work very hard to get you back into the land of ignorance. Refuse.

Going back to them won’t help them. And if you’re ever going to help them you must remain solidly inside the room. It’s the only way you’ll ever influence the people you care about to join you. Only the people who have been inside and become permanent citizens can help those outside come inside. That’s now your goal. To remain firmly inside and fight through the discomfort until being here feels natural.

Everything is hard until it’s easy.

Expanding your business. It’s the point. The goal. And it can happen. If you’ve put in the work the last two days, then you’re beginning to more fully understand that YOU are the constraint. Your business growth is largely limited by one roadblock. YOU.

Today, I hope you’ll start seeing the crack in the door to this cavernous room you’ve avoided entering for too long. It’s the grand ballroom with ceilings so high you can barely see and walls so far apart you begin to wonder how many people could comfortably fit into this room. The door is now unlocked and slightly open. Today, we’re going to walk right on in. And when we do we’re going to see there’s quite a crowd in there. With people coming into the room all the time, but the room never seems to fill up. It’s as though as people enter the room the dimensions of the room expand. It’s subtle, but it’s happening.

There is no limit to the abundance. 

The room always expands to accommodate the people brave enough to enter. You no longer think the room is off limits to the likes of you and your business. Other than first noticing how many people this room can accommodate, you also notice just how crowded the space is outside the room, where the average people live and work. All these people are uttering the same refrain. They’re all complaining to each other how limited the market is, how bad things are likely to get in the future, how they’re losing business to their competitors. World-class excuse makers exist outside the ballroom of abundance. From the weather to capital, to not being able to find good people – this crowd has figured out every conceivable reason for their failure or lack of BIG success.

Inside the room. Or outside the room.

Both places have limitless space. There’s an abundance in both places. Up to now you may have only thought there was abundance in one of them, the room of limited possibility. Here’s the decision you now must make…

Do you want the abundance of opportunity, possibilities, and success? Or…

Do you want the abundance of company – others who refuse to believe they can achieve more?

Either way, you’re going to achieve abundance!

You get to choose. Stay outside with the ENORMOUS crowd who muddle in mediocrity. Average is defined as typical or common. Boy, isn’t that an exciting goal? That’ll surely rally the troops. “Hey kids! Let’s work hard today to be typical.” There’s a reason the biggest abundance is found smack dab in the middle – average!

Come into the grand ballroom of abundance and join the people committed to a high growth way of thinking.

You need to commit to going into the ballroom. Once you change your mind and begin to question how high you can go – how much you can grow as a person, as a business owner, and as a leader – you’ll become unfit to stay in the herd outside. Their complaining, whining and excuse-making will drive you mad. There’s only one way to get away from them. Go where they’re unwilling to go. Inside.

Turn the knob, open the door and go in. 

Average people think there’s more to it. They’re convinced that the folks inside got some special invitation or ticket. I don’t know who they think doles those out, but I guess they think there’s a success fairy or genie.

Fact is, anybody can walk up to the door, turn the knob and just walk right in. It just takes the courage to make up your mind to ditch average.

Once you’re inside – you are inside already, right? – then you have to keep working your way around the room be...

Strategies. Tactics. People are drawn to find out specific answers. While we don’t want people telling us what to do, we sometimes crave it secretly wishing people would just tell us what to do. We crave it because we’re smart. Easy is way better than hard. It’s hard to figure it out for ourselves. Better, but harder!

High growth people aren’t superhuman. They’re only extraordinary because they’ve learned how to think differently than most. They have deeply held self-confidence. Some are extroverts who display their self-confidence with a bravado easily seen. Others of us are quiet introverts who hold it without hardly ever showing it outwardly. You have to roll the way YOU roll. Don’t try to be something or somebody you’re not. Be confident in your ability to figure it out and accept that it’s going to look like whatever it looks like because YOU are YOU. Nobody else.

High growth people don’t pay much attention to strategies or tactics. They know that the power of figuring it out is the ability to be open to whatever may be required to endure or overcome any challenge. And it’s also the ability to figure out the best way to seize an opportunity. Or create one.

When I was in high school drag racing was a thing. I’m not advocating it, but it happened. A holdover I suppose from the 60’s hot rod era. Well, I had a buddy who had a fast car. He worked on it constantly. It was fast, but he knew that any kid with a bit of mechanical knowledge and a fat wallet could buy parts to make a car go faster. The tools were widely available. Any rich kid could get a fast car, but that didn’t mean they could drive it. Paying for parts (buying tools) just takes money. Knowing how to drive takes skill. But then there’s a way of thinking about it all, which is where my friend figured out how to shine. He didn’t bother trying to have the fastest car in a quarter mile drag race. Instead, he changed the game. He’d challenge guys to a race from a 60mph “punch.” He completely changed the game by taking on all covers to a race where both cars would drive side by side at 60mph, then punch the accelerator to see who would outrun the other. His car had insane top end speed. Nobody could beat him from a 60mph punch.

Tools are for fools. 

High growth thinking requires you to stop focusing on what’s available to everybody. Yes, we all need tools, tactics, and strategies, but it’s the wise (often creative) use of them where the real value is. And that’s not in the tools themselves but in our mind. Our way of thinking.

Barnes and Noble didn’t create Amazon. They had all the tools. They knew the industry backward and forward. But they lacked the high growth way of thinking that Jeff Bezos had. And still has.

Yellow Cab didn’t create Uber. They had all the tools, including the cars and the drivers. They knew the taxi industry. But they lacked the high growth way of thinking necessary to turn the whole industry upside down.

Hilton or Marriott didn’t create Airbnb. They had all the locations, staff and resources. They knew the hospitality industry. They even had the infrastructure for room reservations. But they lacked the high growth way of thinking that gave us Airbnb.

It’s not about thinking the opposite of an industry’s conventional wisdom. It’s about adding onto your self-confidence a deep belief that you can achieve more. It’s a relentless unwillingness to accept the status quo. It’s the constant belief that things can always be made better and the devotion to figuring out how.

It starts with “why not” and ends in answering “...

Let’s start this final week of the Grow Great podcast – well, the final week for 2018 – by talking about a way of thinking. Mindset, attitude, mentality. Call it whatever you’d prefer, but I’m calling it exactly what it is – a way of thinking. Depending on the topic, we all have a way of thinking about that topic. It’s a combination of our personality, how we’re hardwired, coupled with how life experiences have shaped our outlook. You think the way you think for a reason. It may not be a good or great reason, but it’s not just some random thing.

We’re going to take 5 days to improve our way of thinking. To establish a high growth way of thinking.

Today is Monday, Day 1. The objective today is to come to grips with the truth that no matter how terrific we feel about our current thinking, we can grow it. Improve it. Most of us have vast room for improvement.

Let’s begin by being clear about the terminology. A high growth way of thinking isn’t merely self-confidence. Self-confidence is part of a high growth way of thinking, but it’s not the total of what it is.

Self-confidence can be difficult to truly understand. Some confuse it with bravado. Others think it’s this irrational “I can do it” no matter how strong the evidence may be that it’s impossible. One definition of self-confidence that resonates with how I view it is the belief that you are sufficiently equipped to handle whatever happens. I may not have all the tools or knowledge to handle every single thing, but I can have a quiet resolve that whatever happens to me, I’ll find a way to figure it out. Without that, we’ll be unable to develop a high growth way of thinking.

This isn’t about you having all the answers. None of us do. Mostly, we’re all going through life working hard to find our own way. To figure things out so we can decide the best course of action.

Life can punch us in the gut with something we’ve never seen before, something we didn’t see coming. At that moment, we can crumble and wilt. Or we can suffer the blow, endure some pain and grief (or any other emotions as we process the event), and ultimately resolve that we’re going to find a way through this problem.

Self-confidence isn’t a rosy outlook. It’s more significant than that. Deeper.

Life – professional or personal – will beat you down. For some, it doesn’t take very much. For others, it’s impossible. They can’t be defeated. What’s the difference? Each person sees themselves in different ways. They think differently.

Here we are on day 1 of our 5 days to a high growth way of thinking and already we can see it’s going to start deep inside us. If you were tempted to focus on what’s happening in your life – on the external circumstances of your life – stop it. Got nothing to do with it. And that’s a truth that is going to be harder for some than others.

Bad things happen to all of us. 

Have you heard people say that events and circumstances are neutral, that they’re neither good or bad? They’re wrong. There are plenty of bad events that happen. Horrible, vile things can happen. To suppose that in our mind we ascribe meaning to these things is not just ridiculous, but dangerous. There is evil in the world. I’m not going to ignore that or hide from it. Does it mean I have to participate in it, or embrace it, or relish it? Of course not. Does it mean it can’t happen to me if I don’t acknowledge it? No. It means I can choose to be deluded I guess. Right is right. Wrong is wrong.

We talk quite a lot about being intentional and purposeful in who you surround yourself with, but today let’s fairly consider naturally occurring peer support. Professional (intentional and purposeful) peer advantage isn’t something everybody wants. And unless or until somebody wants to lean into the advantage of being surrounded by others who can help…they won’t take advantage of it. Or even accept that it could help.

A common refrain among some entrepreneurs is how they just let things happen organically. Chance encounters. Friends. Acquaintances. From the pool of people who come and go in our lives, some feel it’s a suitable pool from which organic peer support “just happens.” Every single person who has ever expressed that to me when asked, “Does that work well for you?” confesses, “No!”

For good reason. There’s no design behind it. No intention. No structure or framework. No growth purpose.

Just yesterday I encountered the phrase that serves as today’s title – “naturally occurring peer support.” It was in a Wired article titled, “Social Media Is Ruining Our Minds—It Also Might Save Them.” Researchers found that some online communities can foster genuinely nurturing environments for people suffering from mental health problems. They observed this “naturally occurring peer support” in YouTube comments, of all places.

Social media is full of trolls and ill-behaved people. Much of it innocuous, but some of it quite damaging. As a longtime member of the podcasting community and blogging community, I can tell you many people are not only distracted by trolls and haters, but some content creators can obsess about them. Engagement is what we crave, but sadly, bad behavior can ruin it. Me? I’ve never consistently allowed comments on my website. As much as I enjoy discussions, even lively ones where people disagree, I decided almost 20 years ago I wasn’t going to provide a forum for people to behave poorly. Besides, I don’t like the anonymity used by so many ill-behaving people. So I’ve been intentional to not allow it on my websites.

Sounds like I’m overly cynical, and I am…but I’m simultaneously optimistic about people. I truly think people – most people – would be good, and perhaps even better if they only knew how. I would hope that naturally occurring peer support is an indication of that. Human beings rally.

Every rally needs a leader.

Somebody in the community has a need. People come together to support that person or family. Somebody has to make it happen. Others may chime in to provide support for the leader, but these efforts don’t “just happen.”

Viral videos are often described as organic, or things that just hit. But if you reverse engineer them you’ll likely see lots of intentional efforts. No guarantees they’ll go viral, but strategies and tactics deployed to give them the best chance. Similar to community support for a cause, some hit bigger than others based largely on the intentional actions taken by people leading the parade. Even organic happenings have explanations.

I’m confident that each of us can better leverage the people who already surround us. Maybe these are naturally occurring peer support structures, but “naturally” presupposes they “just happen.” I’m not sure that’s true. Consider the YouTube comments that prove supportive of people struggling with mental health issues. Trolls and haters could lead the parade,

“Stop overthinking it,” is empty advice. And it’s given every second of every single day. It doesn’t matter if somebody says it to you or if you say it to yourself.

It’s not specifically about overthinking, but it includes it. Some of it is hardwired. Some of it is learned. And like many traits, there can be an upside and a downside. Mostly, there can be harsh generalizations. You can spot it by the language used. OVERthinking emphasizes the over part, not the thinking part. Does it presuppose that there’s an ideal amount of thinking, but the second you go over, then you’re now in that land of “too much.”

Can you really think too much? Is that really the issue?

Nope.

The real issue is inaction.

The real issue is not seeing things as they may really be.

The real issue is BELIEF.

It’s what you believe, which is why you’re not going to talk yourself into or out of anything. And it’s why some empty-headed advice isn’t going to work either.

“Stop overthinking it.” 

“Don’t do that.”

“Do this.”

Overthinking is synonymous with anything else you feel may be a constraint. Or the things that truly are constraints. But it’s more precise than that. It’s part of you. It’s in you. It’s how you see things. It’s your belief.

It all depends on how you think about it. It depends on what you think.

Translation: It all hinges on what you believe. It’s a faith thing.

Not religious faith, but faith.

Change your actions. Easier said than done, but easier done than changing beliefs. Plus, you don’t have to change your beliefs in order to change or improve your behaviors or actions! Changing your actions can and will lead to a change in beliefs.

Chicken and egg. It’s a longstanding quandary. Except we spend an inordinate time in a senseless debate. It doesn’t matter. And we may be wrong.

Beliefs really matter!

But do they matter more than actions? Believe your way to something without doing anything. Go ahead. Try it.

Talk to yourself some more. Tell yourself to stop it. Tell yourself to change your beliefs. Tell yourself to change your actions. Just keep talking. Don’t DO anything. See how it works out.

Try something. Figure it out.

Here’s the deal. You can work really hard and long on trying to figure it out in your head. Or your mouth. But you’ll never know if it’ll work or not. You won’t know if you’ve figured anything out unless or until you try something.

Then, based on the outcome, you’ll learn. If you give it enough of a try you’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t. Along the way, you’ll start to believe some new things, and let go of some old things. Maybe.

“If the map doesn’t agree with the ground the map is wrong.”   -Gordon Livingston

Put another way, reality trumps what you think. And yet what you think becomes your reality. It’s the proverbial catch-22.

Self-Improvement Done With A Live Audience

The reason you can’t talk yourself out of overthinking is that you need help from other people. We may be able to self-diagnose but we can’t always self-remedy our problems. Self-help isn’t selfish help or alone help. It’s work best done in the presence of and with the help of OTHERS.

The map doesn’t always agree with the ground. Sometimes our eyes don’t even accurately see the ground as it truly is. Perspective. Vantage points. Blind spots. Beliefs. They’re all in play as we navigate life.

Entrepreneurship is lonely.

Some days you feel like you are in a cave where all you do is put out one fire after another. You end the day exhausted, sometimes frustrated. And often wishing you had somebody to talk to. Somebody who really understands.

Your business is running you ragged. You love it, but you’re constantly thinking, “There’s got to be a better way.”

Going it alone without support and coaching isn’t the path to growth or improvement. It’s a surefire path to burn out.

2019 is right around the corner. It can be just another year where you put one foot in front of the other, or it can be an extraordinary “break out” year for you and your business. I’m encouraging you to get help.

The kind of help you crave most. Not some promise of an easy-button solution that will never work, but a real-world, proven solution for entrepreneurial growth. The kind of solution where business owners like you have proven able to elevate their own performance, improve their own lives and grow their businesses.

2019 can be your best year yet. Are you willing to make it happen? How intentional and purposeful are you willing to be toward that goal?

Don’t follow the herd of business owners who are simply waiting for another year to happen. Hoping next year will be better than the last.

Hope isn’t a strategy.

Who you surround yourself with matters. Especially other business owners who understand where you’re at, what you’re going through — and who are equally driven to achieve more in their lives and their businesses.

Find a proven program of gathering with other entrepreneurs so you can mastermind your business. Invest a few dollars so you can grow and increase your revenues and profits.

It’s time to act. Time to stop putting off taking your business to new heights of achievement. Time to stop dragging your feet on becoming a better business owner and leader.

Act. Today.

Close, confidential and safe. The Peer Advantage by Bula Network provides the kind of intimate business building group high achieving entrepreneurs crave.

Let’s get on the phone and discuss this opportunity for you to make sure 2019 is an extraordinary year for you and your business. Complete the short survey here: BulaNetwork.com/apply

Learn more about how about The Peer Advantage by Bula Network here.

Be well. Do good. Grow great! (and let a close group of other business owners help you)

Back in the 1970’s a Dallas consultant, Bill Oncken, created a seminar entitled, “Managing Management Time.” In 1984 I bought the book.

It revolutionized my thinking. Mr. Oncken asked the powerful question, “Who’s got the monkey?” It was at the heart of how managers manage their time. 

Leaders lead people. Managers manage the work. These aren’t necessarily different people, but more often they’re just different roles. Different hats worn by the same person. 

By 1989, riding the wave of the enormous popularity of the One-Minute-Manager series of books, Ken Blanchard co-wrote the One-Minute-Manager edition entitled, The One Minute Manager Meets The Monkey.

Monkey, monkey…who’s got the monkey? is far deeper than a productivity question. It’s about priorities, emotions, time, urgency, importance and the work we get done. It’s also about the drivers behind the work, the why of the work. I’d urge you to find a copy of the book and dive into it, but today I’d like to give you a sample taste of a few of the ideas.

For every monkey there are two parties involved: one to work it and another to supervise it.

It’s about owning the work. Too many managers (and leaders) rob their people of taking the monkey. People want their own monkey. That is, they want to own their work. Sadly, managers can take from them the purpose and rewards of work by picking up monkeys not rightfully theirs. 

But I’m in charge, says the manager! Well, bully for you, Mr. Manager, but that doesn’t mean you should go around picking up every monkey you see. That includes the ones you think you could handle better. 

“I’m stuck doing everything,” says the manager. Yet, at every turn, he’s busy picking up monkeys that don’t rightfully belong to him. The more he picks up, the more people expect him to pick up. Eventually, his schedule is packed and his staff lacks work. They’ve got more time on their hands while he has no time at all. It’s his own fault. And the monkeys keep on coming. They don’t stop simply because the manager has no time left.

Managers are the problem. Quite often the manager (the boss) is the constraint on effective and efficient work. All because they’re busy working on the monkeys belonging to their people. 

Things not worth doing are not worth doing well.

I really wish I could have known Mr. Oncken. His humor is right up my alley. He’s spot on in so many things. And it’s not because I was exposed to this stuff when I was much younger because it holds up nicely. It’s because he was so brilliantly simple and straight-forward. Conveying the truth in often humorous, but effective ways. 

Oncken dashed off to the office one Saturday morning, as he had often done before in an attempt to catch up. Staring at the paperwork he needed to get done it dawned on him he was behind not in his own work, but in the work of his people. He wasn’t able to get behind in his work because he never got started on it. He was too busy doing the work for his people. The more he did their work, the more work they gave him to do. And it was completely his fault. He was a compulsive monkey-picker-upper. 

Every family picture excluded him because he wasn’t there. He was busy back at the office handling monkeys that didn’t even belong to him. The more he did things FOR people, the more they expected him to keep on doing things for them instead of doing them for themselves. 

Serve your people by insisting they do them for themselves.