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Do Entrepreneurs Thrive on Chaos?

Written on February 22, 2011 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Entrepreneurship

“If everything is under control, you are going too slow.” ~ Mario Andretti, world champion race car driver.

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George Krueger I posted this quote on Twitter and Facebook last week and got a number of responses. I found this one by David Kasprzak (@flexpencil) particularly interesting: “And if nothing is under control, you are going too fast.”

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Mary-Lynn Foster It’s the Goldilocks principle – you don’t want too little; you don’t want too much.

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Hear George & Mary-Lynn discuss entrepreneurs & chaos on The BIGG Success Show! Click the player to hear the podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Employees want stability

Entrepreneurs thrive in the midst of chaos. It’s a reality. However, it shouldn’t be a goal. For some entrepreneurs, it seems it is the goal. They try to go (and grow) too fast. The result is nothing is under control as David pointed out.

The problem with growing too fast is that most people (that means your employees) want stability at work. Stability equals security. So you need to make sure you provide as much as possible, even if it’s not something you need.

Here are two ways to help your people deal with chaos:

1. Direction. Speed without direction leads you off the track. You may go far but you won’t get where you want to go.

2. Priorities. Speed without priorities means you’re racing in a circle. You’re driving a lot but you’re not going anywhere.

Bad chaos and good chaos

Direction without speed won’t do you much good either, especially in today’s hyper-competitive business world. If everything is under control – if there’s no chaos – you’re not going fast enough.

But chaos can be good or it can be bad. It depends on its source. Consider these three examples:

1. An employee can create it. They don’t get on board with your vision and values. It creates a negative energy. You need to let them go.

2. Lack of structure may create it. In the early stages of a venture, culture trumps structure. As you start getting a handle on products and markets, you need to develop systems. But we entrepreneurs resist and it creates chaos. The result is poor customer service and inefficient employees.

3. Success creates it. Your customers love your products and your company. You’re scrambling to keep up with their demand. This is the kind of chaos you want! Keep pushing for BIGG success!

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Tags: audioblog, bigg success, business world, chaos, control, david kasprzak, employees, george krueger, Management, mario andretti, mary-lynn foster, negative energy, podcast, structure, the bigg success show

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The Coming Age of Small Business-Part 2

Written on November 18, 2009 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Business

small-business Malcolm Gladwell wrote a great article for The New Yorker a while ago. He talks about how David beats Goliath. It’s a great read full of stories about underdogs.

The main story is about a girl’s basketball team that made the national championships when they shouldn’t have won a game. The other stories – from David to Lawrence of Arabia – all support why these girls were able to achieve what they did.

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Hear George & Mary-Lynn discuss how small can have the advantage over bigg on The Bigg Success Show! Click the player to listen [5:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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He cites a study that showed that small armies beat superior opponents a little over one-fourth of the time (28.5%). However, when these underdogs ignored the conventions of war and fought on their own terms, they won nearly two-thirds of the time (63.6%)!

So you’re two times more likely to win if you set the rules of the game!

Set your terms to get your terms

Bigg success is life on your own terms. So it turns out that it’s a circle. You set the terms (your strategy) so you get the terms you desire (your mission).

You are the entrepreneur of your life. You’re in charge. Set the terms for the battles you engage in so you’re more likely to win those battles.

Small businesses, the Davids of the business world, can trump the Goliaths. Not by trying to compete head on. Not by following the conventions.

By crafting strategies that may fly in the face of wisdom and engaging the Goliaths in unfamiliar ways, Davids can be victorious.

The price for bigg success

If you plan to go head-to-head with the Goliaths, there’s a price you must be willing to pay.

It takes effort. You have to be willing to work longer. You have to work harder. As Gladwell says, effort trumps ability.

He cites the girls’ basketball team. Their secret? A full court press. Not just when the game was in its final minutes like a lot of teams do. These girls used a full court press for the entire game.

It rattled their opponents who hadn’t practiced for a full court press. Their standard plays started at half court. By engaging their opponents on the whole court, these girls put them on unfamiliar turf.

There are many ways today for small businesses – even solopreneurs – to trump large competitors. In many cases, they don’t involve money. They involve time. But that’s okay because you know that effort trumps ability if you focus that effort on unconventional tactics.

That’s how to make your small business a bigg success!

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Thank you so much for checking in with us today. Next time, we’ll chat about why women shouldn’t compete with men. Or is it the other way around? Please join us next time to find out. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
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