That's interesting

For years I've had a management practice of talking to team members one-on-one to find out what was interesting to them in their work and life in general.

My belief is that we all have curiosity about certain things that we want to explore more fully.

Are there things they just love to do, but those things don't show up often in their work?

When I understand the interests of our team members, then I can help direct those projects toward them.

For example, one employee told me she loved Excel and working on complicated spreadsheets.

Now, when there is a need for a special spreadsheet for a client, I suggest that the team reach out to Karla for help.

In the book, Why Greatness Cannot be Planned, the conclusion states, “We can follow the scent of interestingness, of novelty, or of whatever present clues we feel may propel the great treasure hunt of innovation.”

It suggests that this is preferable to setting objectives when it comes to discovering something great.

While I believe objectives do work to move you forward incrementally, looking beyond the obvious and unleashing the curiosity of my team to explore the diversity in their learning is also an approach that can be used to propel us forward.

This treasure hunting method feels very different from a set of objectives that we march toward in unison while singing the company song. (I don't actually make my team march and sing ;) )

It feels more open to the possibility that scenarios we may not have envisioned can come to light and even come to fruition for a better solution.

Tell me, what interests you in your business?

Have you had the chance to lift your head up and even contemplate your work in this way?

One of the tools we use with clients in our Cash Flow Accelerator is called the Liberation Quadrant.

We ask our clients to consider what they love and loathe, what they are good at and where they feel incompetent.

In looking through this lens at both their business and personal lives, we can see what is bogging them down and zapping their creative energy.

If you are also feeling that way, let me give you the map to find your treasure.

Take our Ecommerce Business Performance Assessment and see what part of your business needs your focus next.

Then download the free "map" with guidance and resources to help you through those areas.

Take 30 minutes to chat with us when you feel like it's time to start hunting.

And if you don't do anything else today, find something interesting to explore and give yourself permission to go down that rabbit hole for 30 minutes.

It's like oxygen for your mind to get out of the “must dos”, even for a short time.

Cyndi