When you break up with someone, have you ever noticed something weird?
The next person you get together with – mysteriously – somehow ends up being the exact opposite of the person you broke up with.
Funny that.
It’s almost like us humans have a tendency to over-correct when things go wrong. And to over-value the most recent piece of data we’ve been exposed to.
Now this might be a good evolutionary strategy.
But it’s not a good business strategy.
Especially when things go wrong.
You see whenever we suffer a setback with our business, we naturally tend to direct our energies and focus (i.e. “strategy”) in response to that setback. Imagine for example:
- You lose your biggest client
- You lose your most valuable employee
- You get a bad review online
…or even frankly some randomer says something unkind about your business in passing.
“Oh shit!”, we think, “we’ve gotta stop something like this from happening again!”.
We’re instantly distracted, and we immediately set about “fixing” the causes, little realising that this repair-job is sending us down a strategic path which may be completely irrelevant or ineffective.
Maybe you biggest client has had an internal shake up.
Maybe your most valuable employee just wants a career change.
Maybe the bad review was a total one-off.
The point is that if you respond to every setback, this will amount to a random shift in strategy every few months, and you’ll never really get traction with one thing or another.
This is why a clear strategy is so important for recovering from setbacks.
Reactive flip-flopping can only occur in a vacuum, where there is no strategy to hold onto. But when you actually know what you’re for, what bet you’re making, and where you are going, you can contextualise these setbacks, and shrug them off.
One of the guys in The Strategy Shortcut System shared the other day that his first employee had recently quit, and it had really shaken him up. But he also said that thanks to his new strategic focus, he wasn’t going to overreact to it. He was able to steady himself and get back to the game.
That is an underrated thing a clear strategy gives you.
A still centre.
Something to return to – almost like a mantra – in times of turbulence.
Of course now and again a setback might occur directly because of a strategy. And in such cases you might want to adapt. But honestly, this is super unusual. Most problems you’ll face aren’t strategic at all. They’re just like weather. Shit happens, and tomorrow the sun will be out again
Do not over-react.
Do not over-correct.
Do not over-think.
Do not over-emphasise.
You know what your game is. Return to it. Keep pushing.
And before you blink, it’ll all be forgotten.
