Today I inadvertently performed a wonderful experiment in something called "communication deprivation."
And it's all so painfully obvious in hindsight, I'm really embarassed that it's coming as such a breakthrough to me.
Here's the thing: today I had a flight to Nashville. Now, I should mention that a couple of years ago, I used to fly all the time - 2 or 3 flights a month, on a pretty regular basis. However, since I started as a Schwan's employee, I've had very little opportunity to travel. Because of this, today's flight was my first in about nine months.
So here I am, in an airplane, thousands of feet above the ground, and I realize that for the first time in months, I have total and complete communication deprivation. I have no access to my e-mail. The office phone is miles away. My cell phone doesn't work. There's not even a wireless signal for my Palm Pilot to pick up. In other words, as far as my job is concerned, I'm totally alone in the universe. I can't send or receive data in the slightest. I'm cut off.
At first, this was freaky. I mean, normally my cell phone will ring several times an hour, at the very least.
But then, as I thought about it, I recognized the opportunity. Usually I'm interrupted mid-idea by a ringing cell phone, and if I'm not, I'm busy typing out an e-mail. Now, hundreds of feet in the air, all I can do is sit... and think.
So that's what I did.
I spent a good hour and a half doing nothing but thinking about my business - what I've done, what I haven't done, where I've gone wrong, where I've gone right, where I could have done more, the important things I've missed, and oppportunities I can exploit. And after I thought of one thing, I didn't immediately run off to do something about it; instead, I thought some more.
By the time the plane landed, my notepad was filled with all kinds of (may I humbly suggest) brilliant ideas, running the gamut from staff training to recruitment to operational excellence to sales motivation. And because of these ideas racing through my head and onto my notepad, I'm enthusiastic about the future. I'm pumped about new opportunities. I'm excited to get back to it and put these plans into action.
Did I get anything done during this time to impact our employees, customers, revenues, expenses, or profits? Nope. Did I further our mission or move my office closer to the company's vision or values? Not in the slightest. So was it a waste of time? Absolutely not. For the first time since I started my current job, my communication deprivation gave me the clarity of mind, the singularity of focus, and the full, detached perspective to look at our business operations in a whole new light. From this new viewpoint, I was able to see things I'd never noticed before - things I was doing wrong, and things I could do a heck of a lot better with minimal investment.
Isn't that exactly what smart business is all about? Isn't this exactly the kind of conscious intellectual, thinking effort that I'm always saying more business leaders need to use? Why has it taken me so long to discover this?
From now on, I'm going to block out at least one hour a month to turn off the cell phone, unplug the office phone, shut down the computer, and disable my wireless e-mail access. I'm just going to sit. And think. And plan. And grow.
And as a result, sales will grow, expenses will shrink, I'll have more empowered employees, and more and happier customers. That makes profit go up. And that's what really matters as a businessman, right?
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