The diagram a Playmaker brings to their CEO

Last week I invited you to think about the final 3 months of the calendar year more intentionally, using 5 questions to size your gap and see where it sits in your Real Math of Business™.

This week, I'd like to help create more clarity for you so that closing the gap becomes business as usual (BAU). So that come 1 January, you can refocus on growth, not playing catch-up.

How did you go last week?

Most people struggle to put a stake in the ground. They suffer from the 'yeah, but' syndrome I mentioned.
I'm not here to 'shrink' you through it, I'm here to help you 'think' your way through it.

Why the 'yeah, but'?

When it comes to explaining gaps to goals, it's easy to do 1 of 2 things.
1. you can pull out the budget and identify the specific line items that are causing the gap. Not helpful because a budget doesn't influence performance.
2. you explain the 'easy' causes - cost, external environment, culture...and then it all gets a bit 'big' and overwhelming. Each of those causes is true, but you feel really uncomfortable saying them because naming causes means commitment. Staying vague feels safer.
So we stay vague.

Vague = safe for you, but costly for your people.

No one else needs to see this next bit

Step 1: What's getting in the way of your growth goals....really?

I want to give you 5 minutes now to think - in a safe space where no one is watching - to jot down all of the causes on the table. Laundry list them. On a piece of paper, on your phone, on a file in your computer. Write them down. No one's judging.

Before we move onto step 2, allow yourself to make sense of the raw list. It's likely to include some big-ticket causes, like 'culture' or 'external environment'.

Break them down. 'Culture' might become 'our sales team isn't hungry enough' and 'our finance team doesn't give us performance data that's usable'. 'External environment' might become 'increased fuel prices putting pressure on margins' and 'reduced consumer confidence and demand as a result of regional conflict'.

Refine your list until each item is specific enough to put a number on.

Step 2: Is your strategy complete?

You've got your list. You're probably feeling clearer already.

Next, pull out/open your strategy document. Do you see a strategic response to those causes?

If 'yes', confirm that your strategic response adequately handles it, keep it on your list and move to the next one.

If 'no', congratulations - you have surfaced a real, unaddressed gap. You're already ahead of where you'd be without this clarity.

Step 3: Check for completeness

Review your list. If we fixed every one of them, would growth follow, or is there an additional reason you wouldn't meet your growth goal?

If there is, that's a useful find. Add that to your list, and keep going. Remember, clarity is your growth accelerator.

Step 4: The pie

Your pie is the gap you sized in Question 1 last week: 100% = $X. Give each cause a slice as a percentage. Gut feel is fine. Round to the nearest 5%.

Every cause gets a slice, including the ones your strategy already addresses. They're still part of today's gap.

Confirm your slices total 100%. If you like, multiply each slice by your gap to see what each cause is worth.

Step 5: Notice and feel

I expect, like many of my clients, there are some items on your list that you had the urge to cross out and say 'oh, they're not real causes'. You didn't want to include them in your pie.

Why? This feeling happens when self-judgment enters the room. Remember, I said this was a thinking exercise not a 'shrink'-ing one. Self-judgment isn't allowed in this room - we don't judge, we support.

I want to be your supporter here. No one knows the causes of the gap better than you. If you believe there is a gap, I support you. It belongs in the pie.

If you fear that someone else will shut you down, 'That's ridiculous. That's not a gap, you just need to do x, y and z.' Fantastic! You have a solution. If they can't offer one, that's their discomfort, not evidence you're wrong.

The Real Math of Business is a supporter framework, not a judgmental one.

Step 6: Celebrate...and breathe

If you have completed steps 1 through 5, well done. You have put your business and your people at a strategic advantage by clearing the path to close the growth gap. When you're ready, this is the diagram to take to your CEO.

Make no mistake, your people were always going to 'bust their gut' getting to the Christmas deadline, but quite often in this period people get busy for busy's sake. Now you have clarity on what's driving the gap.

This should feel freeing for you.

It may also feel a little daunting as you wonder how you're going to get through that list in less than 12 weeks. Don't worry - that's what we'll cover next week.

For now, I leave you with this thought...

"If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favourable" - Seneca

..and a question

Which slice of your pie did you almost leave off?

Hit reply and let me know.