When I am talking to business owners about new strategies to grow their business, whether marketing or training or procedures or dealing with customers, the comment I most often hear is: "I just don't have the time." What I hear inside my head is: "I don't have the time to do it right, but I'll make the time to fix the problem when it occurs or live with the consequences." If someone were to say that out loud you would probably wonder about their management abilities and motivation. Sometimes they don't say it but their behavior shows it. We see it every day in customer "service." I would point to BP's actions in the Gulf as a current example.

 

The truth is that we can't find the time to fix problems or make the time to do it right in the first place. Time can't be controlled or managed, it passes despite our desires or intentions. What we can control, what we can manage, is our priorities and our actions. That's what management is all about: setting goals and objectives, creating plans, and then executing those plans within an established schedule. Simple, not easy.

 

Execution is the biggest challenge because that's when all those distractions arise - the phone calls, the small fires, the people who can't seem to do what they promised, or the tempting invitations to do something more fun than work - all conspiring to steal your time. The easiest way to respond to those challenges is to focus on what you need to do and simply say: "I just don't have the time." Try it.