HOCUS POCUS…FOCUS

I loved watching magicians as a child.  “HOCUS POCUS” the magician would say as he waved a wand and a rabbit or a bird would come out of a top hat.

I also remember being so disappointed when I learned that their “magic” was mostly slight of hand and misdirection, oftentimes aided by some very ingenious devices and contraptions.  I actually stopped trying to figure the tricks out, content in being somehow duped by someone with a skill I was never quite able to build.

Smoke and mirrors, slight of hand and misdirection don’t work in business; At least, not in ethical ones.

And yet, some of the same principles do apply.  WhenYOU, as a business owner, FOCUS on the ‘right’ things, they automatically, as if HOCUS POCUS, they magically improve.

There’s an adage of unknown origin that says; “What gets measured, gets done.”

While I’ve certainly found that to be true, is it the measurement itself or is it the FOCUS on the activity being measured that is the secret sauce that creates the magic?

I would maintain that measurement is only one type of physical action that helps maintain FOCUS.  There are others such as ROUTINE, HABIT and SUPPORT.  The point being that FOCUS without some ACTION will not, by itself, achieve much of anything.

Even the inner FOCUS of meditation, mindfulness, Yoga or other stress relieving activities requires some action, be it image visualization, mantras, certain styles of breathing, etc.

Another challenge of using measurement as a sole avenue for FOCUS is that it most often involves an historic quantification.  It measures something that HAS happened, a RESULT of some previous effort.

While an historic measurement is great to assess previous performance and allows for making modifications to activities, systems or behaviors that can facilitate increasing the measurement, it does NOT do much to help anticipate future events.

That’s the current challenge.  How can we, as business owners, FOCUS on activities that can help us be more effective now and yet be proactive or anticipatory rather than reactive or responsive?

Are there measurements that can be “anticipatory”?

Would a FOCUS on those help us deal with upcoming trends and avoid some of the challenges we’ve seen so many businesses face during this Pandemic?

One of the best strategies to use to enable one’s business to FOCUS on both the historic, current and future, is STRATEGIC PLANNING.

A FOCUS on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats and Trends or SWOTT is an active process that combines both the historic performance and the anticipated issues.  It’s such a process that few businesses do on a regular basis and that NOW is more valuable than ever.

Want some assistance in a SWOTT analysis for your business, so that you can FOCUS on the important things?

Book a free consultation at: https://practiceperfectsystems.com/

Get the FREE eBooks; “From Here to Where?” or the newly written “Practice Reboot”

To your excellent clarity and success,

Michael, Laurie and the PPS Team

P.S.  The opposite of FOCUS is NEGLECT.  And just like things that are focused on tend to improve, things that have focus taken away tend to diminish.  We see that all too often with relationships.  So be aware of your FOCUS and don’t let something perhaps even more valuable, HOCUS POCUS…disappear.