The Superstitions To Believe In
October 14th, 2021 // 10:52 am @ Scott Manning
It’s always lucky to do anything on the 13th Day of October, even if it’s not a Friday.
We’ll get to several ways business owners make themselves unlucky later this month. In keeping with our theme though what better thing to write about on the 13th of October than superstitions.
I’ve told you enough about ‘what not to do’ and all the things that businesses do to themselves that ultimately put their business, customer, team, growth, and profitability at a disadvantage by the way they think, act, and decide.
Instead today let’s talk about superstitions in a totally different way.
In your business you get to believe in whatever kind of superstitions you want.
We don’t see them as this, at least from the outside looking in. They might be better said to be “ways of doing things” or a “proprietary approach” or “the secret recipe” or “internal processes.”
Defined, a superstition is a widely held belief in the causation of certain outcomes.
Undoubtedly your team believes if a particular process is executed, an expected result will be produced. These superstitions bring about attachment and indoctrination to people with your business. They are a necessary part of your culture.
Think about it right now…
What are some things in your business that you ALWAYS WANT TO HAPPEN?
What are some things in your business that you NEVER WANT TO HAPPEN?
You might say something like, “We are more successful when we do BLANK.” And you’d likely be right. Granted, it doesn’t mean there isn’t another way of achieving a similar result.
It’s not that these superstitions are lucky, but yet you’d never operate without them.
You want to break these down into things that happen internally with your team and those that happen externally with your customers; both are very important.
These are often seen as the littlest of things that most people just don’t understand or value. Any ordinary person would leave out without thinking about it, never realizing they are leaving out those secret ingredients that make all the difference.
What you know is anytime you make exceptions to these you regret it.
To you, these likely won’t seem like a ‘superstition’ at all but instead a core principle. There might be other ways of doing something, but none you’d consider.
Think about the rules, protocols, beliefs you will never break. Make a list of the core principles you would want every team member to follow.
Your onboarding process for new hires should include all the things you believe in and every team member, if they are going to be there, will learn to believe the same things or they will be breaking the internal strength of the organization.
Bad luck brought by one is bad luck brought to all.
And then we can think about your customer engagement and the specific processes as superstitions as well. The things that you have your customers do or experience, or perhaps even actions prohibited by your customers.
I tell our practices if a prospective patient is a jerk on the phone why would you think they would be any different in person. Be superstitious about who you let in.
For us, I never want to talk to a new Doctor without them first answering a questionnaire (you know this obviously), so we are both prepared for the call. Like walking under a ladder or breaking a mirror, if someone doesn’t go through the proper steps prior to the call then outcome will be less than ideal.
In all the times I’ve ever allow this superstition to be crossed I can think of one time in two decades that it worked out swimmingly and the rest end in pure regret.
There are others. A long list, which length isn’t the point, but the more specific you are in controlling your state of ideal, the fewer times you’ll have it interrupted and have to make exceptions in your business.
I’ve told you before about a few others related to always following up, never being the one who stops positive momentum, and always being open to opportunities that come into your life.
You see, superstitions are about ensuring your operations are setup to deliver positive outcomes while mitigating any possible negative impacts – all based on your past experiences and knowledge.
Superstitions can be about both the avoidance of what you don’t want and the attraction of what you do.
I can tell you while happiness is a choice, luck can be created and you do have so much magic inside of you. However, in your business your thoughts alone won’t do anything – it’s your actions that get you results. Which is why the superstitions in your business are so meaningful, because superstitions are beliefs in action.
These are your ‘tricks of the trade’ that to others might look strange or random. Yet, we know they are very deliberate by your own design.
Make the list of the superstitions that you have in your business and the ones that you might want to assess, change, or update that could be outdated. Identify new ones that make sense for where your business is at right now and where it is headed in the future.
If you want to get to the advanced level of all of this then you should be very in tune with your own personal behaviors as well. It is something every successful person embraces.
Make a list of your own personal superstitions you live and practice every day (often disguised as routines or habits), that are part of who you are. More next week…
Category : Blog
