Lesson #33
Spurring Growth—How to Eat an Elephant One Bite at a Time
What do eating an elephant and building a business have in common? You do both in the same way—one bite at a time.
One of the biggest challenges when you're building a business is figuring out how to approach that growth. Executives with common sense who are aware of their own vulnerability have all had that sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs at least once. It occurs when they suddenly become overwhelmed by the size and scope of a pending undertaking that is designed to take their company to the next level. And here you thought getting the company up and running was the hard part!
To get started with one of the bigger meals of your career, you first need to have the idea and conjure up a big picture of what has to be done. It's a lot like what occurs in photography; when you pull back to get the entire subject in the frame, it always looks more daunting than it really is. But once you get the picture in focus and zoom in on the subject, you start to crystallize the individual pieces and parts—but not the entire elephant. You need a close-up of each cross section or smaller piece to launch the development process.
When a project is conceptualized, it typically incorporates all the bells and whistles. From there you rationalize the undertaking—not only economically but also in terms of the time and resources needed to get the job done. But you must answer these questions before you put pencil to paper: ...
