It’s Just the Way We Do Things Around Here
When the “Shall I do it now or later?” question comes up for a new Centratel staff member, their not-yet-disciplined internal dialogue goes something like this: “What’s the difference if I do this task now or later? I just don’t feel like doing it right now. I’ll do it later because my guess is I will feel more like doing it then.” A variation is, “I function better under pressure. I need an imminent deadline to force me to take action, so I’ll do this task next week when that condition will exist (or, maybe, the task will miraculously disappear by then).” Sound familiar?
During job orientation, we ask the new staff member to change that internal self-talk to “I’ll do it now because that is how things are done at Centratel.”
Our experienced managers embrace the “Do it now” credo because it is so potently effective, not just because it’s our policy, but because it just works! No need for self-explanation; no time for inane back-and-forth internal dialogue. The rule is, “just do it NOW and let’s get on with things!”
Yes, this “because I said so” dictate may grate a bit, especially with the independence and freedom we Westerners take for granted. We don’t like arbitrary rules imposed by others, but in a business an employee has the freedom to quit if the rules don’t seem reasonable. In the free world, anyone can leave a job to go to work for someone else, start a new business, or sit on the couch and do nothing.
But, for the new Centratel employee, once a concept is tested and the workability of it proven, it’s a no-brainer. It’s just logic: Consistently superior end-results are justification for cast-in-concrete methodology.
Author of the book, Work The System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less, Sam Carpenter is hosting a January 2009 two-day, life-changing Boot Camp that will change your life (and your business) forever. See www.workthesystem.com/bootcamp for details.
November 11th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
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November 11th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I don’t know, it seems like this credo could be more problematic at times. I completely understand the idea behind the phrase and see what you’re getting at, but couldn’t there be a better way to enforce this message with some sort of positive feedback towards employees?
Personally I see the “Do it now” credo much in the same way I would see my parent(s) saying “Because I said so.”
Again, I see what you’re getting at, but I don’t see it as a positive phrase. Then again, I realize you’re not in business to make people happy, pamper them or model your business around their “feelings”, I just think there are better ways to communicate the message of getting things done.
November 11th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I think Michael Masterson got it with his credo, Ready Fire Aim which is the name of his book and his blog. Equivalent of do it now. Too much thinking and planning can be paralyzing. Do look before you leap but not for too long.
November 12th, 2008 at 3:03 am
It’s something I could definitely use. I get stuck in too much planning and at times I don’t have much energy left for execution. Procrastination costs a lot. I will certainly implement this phrase as far as it’s possible. At times the waiting is imposed by an outside source so it would be more like ” As long as it’s within your power, do it now!”
Thanks though
June 21st, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Thanks for the comments. In the book I tried hard to make the point that employees have a choice to work, or not work, for a specific company. But also, more importantly, employees WANT things in black and white so they know what to do and how to do it….and they are especially happy if they are part of creating the ruls and regs. At Centratel, my people are highly paid, highly involved and (I like to think) more than reasonably satisfied with the situation. In instituting the “this is how we do things around here” message, I was amazed at the acceptance of it. At first I was very nervous. No one gets in trouble at Centratel which makes for a serene and pleasant environment. To this day I wonder WHY I didn’t think of this earlier (like, sometime early in my 15 years of 100 hour work weeks…)
Dale: Exactly right. I can’t add to that. There’s a middle ground and if business is an art and a science, finding that middle ground is the art.
The thing is, and this is hard to grasp for a lot of folks: Taking the time to set definite goals and put things down on paper is WORTH it. I really am only working 2 hours a week at Centratel because of these efforts. Also it’s the #1 answering service in the country and I am close to a 50% margin. It just works!
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Thanks!
Sam Carpenter