November 2007: How to Avoid Being the Captain of the Next Titanic

Dear Jayme:

I’m a framing contractor doing about $1 million a year. I hear a lot about an owner “thinking strategically.” What does this really mean, and why is it important for a small guy like me?
Jackson


Dear Jackson:

If I asked you where a ship’s captain belongs, you’d probably tell me “on the bridge,” and you’d be right. A captain’s job is to decide the ship’s destination, keep it on course and deal with unexpected emergencies.

From the bridge, he can scan the horizon for hazards and avoid them far in advance. His officers and crew have set procedures, clear duties and a chain of command that insures orders are carried out properly and that no detail goes unaddressed. An unusual situation may occasionally require the officers to ask the captain for a decision, but his time is mostly spent dealing with the long-range matters that determine the success and profitability of the ship’s operations and thinking about ways to outsmart other captains and make his ship run more efficiently.

Imagine, however, a captain who’s embroiled in the million tasks and details involved in operating the ship. He’s below decks fixing the boilers, checking for leaks, scheduling the work crews and cooking the meals. Since this captain wants to make every decision and keep lots of key operating knowledge in his head, the officers and crew are constantly pestering him with questions about simple things. Of these two ships, which one would you rather be riding? Which one would you rather own? Which is more likely to make it to the destination port safely and on time?

You get the idea, and business (and life) works the same way. If you spend your time and energy doing only day-to-day tasks, the business will get along for another day, but you probably won’t be any closer to a worthwhile destination. Read my lips: You should be doing something every single day to move your business forward toward your long-term goals.Thinking and acting strategically mean:

    You focus primarily on where your business will be in one, three, five, or ten years.
    You have specific, measurable milestones along the way.
    You take all actions and make all decisions in the context of how they’ll affect your progress toward your goals.

It’s very hard for humans to think about long-term issues because our genetics make us focus on day-to-day survival (more important to escape the lion attack now than worry about where the tribe will spend next winter). This is what makes us perceive almost anything immediate as more important than anything long-term, and that, coupled with the immediate gratification of taking action and seeing instant results, makes long-term thinking a challenge.

But we’re grownups here. Day-to-day survival usually isn’t the issue. The things that distinguish the really successful, happy, and secure owners from the rest is that they’ve laid out long-range plans for their lives and their businesses and keep themselves on track.  That means, as always, having officers, a crew and procedures in place so that you can feel comfortable that the ship is running like a Swiss watch beneath you while you scan the horizon and keep things on track.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that a smaller contractor needn’t be thinking strategically. It is, after all, how the big boys get big—breaking big dreams down into manageable milestones and always staying focused on the long-range goal.

If you find yourself below decks handling lots of day-to-day stuff, it’s time to delegate operational tasks to your employees and get comfortable with the new, strategic role of leader. That’s easy to say and impossible to describe in a brief letter, but it’s the key to successful, satisfying, low-stress ownership, and we teach people this stuff everyday. If delegation and strategic thinking didn’t work, there’d be a lot more shipwrecks.

Cheers!
Jayme

Construction Business Owner, November 2007