I was walking Finney, our cocker spaniel, across the fields this week when he got attracted by a scent. Immediately, his head went down, his tail started wagging and he excitedly pursued the trail. In fact, he was so focused on the smell he completely missed the fact that the hare that he was following popped out of the undergrowth just a few feet away and proceeded to sprint 200 yards across the field to safety.
Ten years ago I had a similar experience with a consultant surgeon. Having suffered from shoulder pain for a couple of years I was referred by my GP to a consultant who, after reviewing some x-rays, decided that the problem was a bone spur that needed to be removed by surgery. The operation was a success, but the pain didn’t go away and was only resolved by a physiotherapist who helped me with a series of stretches and exercises to improve the underlying muscular issues.
The surgeon, like Finney, had pursued his strengths. For Finney, it’s his sensitivity to smells, while for the surgeon it was looking for bone problems to address with a surgically. By focusing on their specialist areas of expertise, however, they both missed opportunities for better results.
It’s the same in business. If you’re struggling with selling a particular product, the sales team may well say that the price needs to be lowered, the marketing team are likely to argue that the investment in customer communications is too low, while the finance team may point out that the original forecasts were too optimistic. In other words, they all view the issue from their own particular point of expertise.
All of them may have a point, but you’re only going to get to the bottom of complex business issues if you’re able to share, test and challenge alternative approaches. What issue are you facing where you’ll be better off looking at it from a few different perspectives, rather than relying on a single expert view?
Off The Record: Doctor My Eyes by Jackson Browne
Doctor, my eyes,
Tell me what is wrong?
Was I unwise,
To leave them open for so long?
By the way, I’ve now created a Spotify list of all the songs that have featured in Business Rocks to date, including this week’s track. It’s handily titled, Stuart’s Business Rocks Playlist. Please feel free to add it to your playlists library so that you can get some musical inspiration whenever you need it. The link is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7xGVaJSHxzqgQX9IAfmkTA?si=bdb8673e11e74381
Thanks for all your support and encouragement!