Up Your Business!: 7 Steps to Fix, Build, or Stretch Your Organization, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded

Chapter 8. Close the Gap between Knowing and Doing: Develop the Commitment to Do What Is Easier Said Than Done

After I gave a two-hour leadership presentation, an attendee commented that “what you say is a lot easier said than done.” Naturally, I’ve heard this many times previously, but the defensive tone of his voice made me realize that his assertion was designed to demean, belittle, or minimize the potential effectiveness of what I was suggesting. I then realized that if this intelligent, successful business-person could be so far off track as to assume that because a task is “easier said than done” its importance is somehow diminished, others like him might believe the same. In fact, these same words may have popped into your mind as you read the strategies in the preceding seven chapters. It would be tragic for you to discard or disregard principles that could transform your business simply because they sound too obvious or ordinary. To create some perspective concerning the absolute necessity of something being “easier said than done” in order to be usable and valuable, consider the following: If something is not easier said than done, it’s not likely to require the discipline, persistence, change, and growth necessary to positively impact your business. Thus, its value is doubtful at best. For instance, the act of showing up at work each day is easily said and done, and as a result the vast majority of employees are able to pull this off. It requires minimal effort and a ...