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7. Systems - Harnessing The Power Of Consistent Behavior
Episode 717th September 2024 • The Business You Really Want • Gwen Bortner
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Are you in control of your systems, or are your systems controlling you?

In this episode of "The Business You Really Want," hosts Gwen Bortner and Tonya Kubo invite you into the world of systems and how the behaviors within your business shape the results you see. Whether you're running a solo operation or managing a growing team, understanding and optimizing your systems can lead to more efficiency, less stress, and greater success.

Here’s what you can expect in this episode:

  • 2:38 - Systems are actually just behaviors
  • 6:32 - Learn your behaviors by consciously observing them
  • 10:00 - How to document your systems once you know they work
  • 12:35 - How to identify the behaviors that make up your systems.
  • 17:28 - Why being too flexible might be sabotaging your business success
  • 20:28 - Creating intentional systems that align with your goals and values
  • 22:58 - The time it takes to standardize behaviors into effective systems
  • 27:54 - Free yourself by standardizing behaviors for recurring decisions

Key Takeaways:

  • Systems are not software: Understand that systems are the consistent behaviors and processes that happen in your business every day.
  • Observe your behaviors: Start noticing the automatic decisions you make daily; these are your true systems.
  • Document only when necessary: Don’t waste time writing down processes until you know they are effective and repeatable.
  • Balance flexibility with structure: Too much flexibility can lead to chaos; find the right balance to keep things running smoothly.
  • Leverage outside perspectives: Sometimes, you need an external observer to point out unconscious behaviors that could be impacting your success.

Ready to optimize your business systems? Try this:

  1. Start by observing: Take a week to note down every step you take in completing your daily tasks. What patterns do you see?
  2. Ask why: For every action, ask yourself why you are doing it that way. Is there a better or more efficient way? 
  3. Streamline your processes: Identify areas where you can reduce steps or make things more straightforward.
  4. Get feedback: Consider working with a coach or a trusted colleague to gain insights into your habits and how they could be improved.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review!

Also, be sure to check out Episode 8, where we explore solving the right problems in the right order.

Transcripts

Speaker:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: Why waste time

documenting something that

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we're going to revise, improve?

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Remove, delete, you know,

whatever, whatever it is.

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And so documentation of systems is useful

once you know you really have a useful,

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effective, proper, um, whatever term you

want to put around it, system in place.

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But people assume that by documenting

it, they now have a system.

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Nope, they had a system long

before they put any word to paper.

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Are you feeling

overwhelmed, stuck, or uncertain about

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how to grow your business without

sacrificing what really matters most?

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Welcome to The Business You Really

Want, the show for women ready to build

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a sustainable, fully aligned business.

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Aligned with what, you ask?

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You.

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Your values.

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Your life.

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Seriously.

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It is possible.

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I'm Tonya Kubo, and along with

business advisor extraordinaire Gwynn

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Bortner, we're here to show you how.

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Do you have systems in your business

or do your systems have you?

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If you're me, it's more

the latter than the former.

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Gwen is the queen of systems, by the

way, just in case you didn't know that.

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Uh, so in this episode, I think

it's really important to talk about

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identifying and optimizing the

behaviors that shape your business.

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I'm Tanya Kubo.

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Uh, I am here with

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operations expert extraordinaire.

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I love this as, as the lead host

here, I get to say all sorts of

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ridiculous things about Gwen and she

can't stop me cause we're recording.

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As we are here,

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Gwen, at the end of our

introductory gears series, right?

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Which we're exploring the five key

operational functions that make

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up the engine of any business.

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We have come to the last and

most certainly not least.

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We have talked about goals.

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We've talked about effectiveness,

we've talked about accounting, last

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episode we talked about resources,

and today we're talking about what

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I believe is the most misunderstood

business function, which is systems.

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Now Gwen, you don't know this, but several

weeks back, You gave me a definition of

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systems that absolutely blew my mind.

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So much so, I scrawled, MUST

BLOG THIS, in my notebook.

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Okay?

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This is how you know I

mean business, right?

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It's like, scrawled, that's several

pages back, cause that was weeks ago.

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It blew my mind because I am one

of those people who has spent years

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saying, I gotta work on my systems.

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I need better systems.

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I don't have any systems.

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I hired people.

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The people told me I didn't have systems

too, so it's not like I was the only

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person who thought this, but when you

said systems are actually behaviors, I

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went, Oh, now that you mentioned it, maybe

I do have systems and I don't like them

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because I don't like the behaviors I have.

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So start us off there.

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Explain to me how I have systems

if I don't know that they're there.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: Everybody

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has systems.

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There, there is, there is nothing

that happens without a system.

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Now, you may not have consistent systems.

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You may not have documented systems.

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You may not have systems that are

producing the results that you want.

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Those are very, very

different kinds of things.

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But systems are happening all the time,

everywhere, around everything, all.

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So, when someone says I don't have

any systems, that is not true.

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They have systems.

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They may not have documented systems, they

may not be consistent systems, they may

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not be the systems that they want, because

a system is just a way you do something.

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It is a behavior.

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The way you answer the phone, or

don't answer the phone, is a system.

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like, you know, your

personal thing, you know.

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By the way, this can be used for

phone calls for those who don't know.

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Um.

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Not by me, Gwen.

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Not by me.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: know, on very

rare occasions, only under duress.

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: I will slack you

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and

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you will call me

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: system, right?

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All of that's a system, it's a behavior.

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: So if systems

are behaviors then, and I don't

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think I have systems because

I don't know their behaviors.

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Let me see how much more circular

logic I can throw into this.

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How do I know my behaviors?

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How do I figure that out?

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: So, that is an observation

activity, and this is why most people

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don't think they have systems, is

it's really hard to observe ourselves.

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Okay.

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Mm

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: I use the phrase,

uh, you know, you can't read the

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label from the inside of the jar.

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That's kind of what the situation is.

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It's hard to observe yourself.

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If you're doing it with some level of

consciousness, you actually can to say,

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so what do I do when, you know, I'm going

to keep picking like on the phone, right?

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The phone rings.

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What do you do?

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There is a system that we all have.

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We don't, it's so automatic.

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We don't even think about it as a system,

but I know when the phone rings, the

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first thing I do and look as I see, is

it a number that my phone recognizes?

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Yay, caller ID.

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Gosh, you know, we're old enough

to have not had caller ID.

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: I know!

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Remember when the phone

rang and it was a mystery?

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: it was a mystery.

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It was a total mystery.

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So the first thing I looked is,

is it anybody I know, right?

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That's part of my

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Mm

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hmm.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: if it's someone I know,

then I evaluate, um, can I answer it now?

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Or should I answer it now based

on anything else that's going on?

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Like if you and I are recording

like right now and the phone rang,

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um, I'd be upset that I haven't

turned it silent, which I haven't.

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Um,

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but I would look and see is, is it

one of only a person or two that

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I might answer the phone because

it's actually potentially urgent

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right now, I'm not expecting

anybody to have any urgent issues.

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So I wouldn't

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Mm hmm.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: in Necall.

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That's part of my system right now.

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Now, if it was, we weren't recording,

maybe you and I were just chatting,

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um, depending on who it was, I

would say, Hey, this is so and so.

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Let me, let me find out

if this is important.

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Um, other people would be

like, yeah, no, they can wait.

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And I would send them

off to voicemail, right?

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But I, if it was a number I

didn't recognize, I'd immediately

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send it off to voicemail.

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All of that's a system.

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Now, most people don't think about

it that consciously that they're

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just doing those things, right?

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This is just, but that's why

it's also a behavior, right?

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That's your behavior of

how you answer the phone.

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But that.

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Behavior is in fact the system.

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Okay.

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So, I know I can find out my

behaviors by observing them.

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We tend to be terrible at that,

so I can probably do, like,

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a task study or a time study.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: Yeah, and part of

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: to do it

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: part of it's being

aware, like, I hadn't prepped that whole

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conversation that we just had, um, but

because I'm good at observing, I was able

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to say, oh yeah, so what would happen?

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Well, if the phone rang right

now, there, here are the first

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two questions my mind would do.

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And, and if you start paying

attention, you can say, oh yeah, I

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know that if a number that doesn't

recognize come up, I always put,

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you know, send it to voicemail.

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I know, you know, you, you can start

paying attention to your own things and

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saying, Oh yeah, what am I doing here?

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Why am I doing that?

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And that's really the question.

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Like, Why am I making this choice?

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Why am I making this decision?

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Um, what, what is the trigger for

the decision or why am I doing it?

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Right?

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I'm not going to answer the phone.

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The phone doesn't ring.

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That's the first thing.

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It

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: That's a good point.

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Okay, so the phone ringing is the trigger.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: Yeah.

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: So then, how do I know,

so okay, so I've observed my behaviors.

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How do I know when it's

time to document them?

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Because one thing that you and me have

talked about a lot of times is, a lot

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of times people think system equals

SOP, or Standard Operating Procedure,

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when in reality, The SOP is just

cementing or standardizing the behaviors

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that we've been doing all along.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: So,

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so often when people First talk to

me about potentially working with me.

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One of the first things they say is, Oh,

so you're going to document my systems?

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And the first thing is, I'm not

going to do anything like that

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because that's not part of what I do.

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: This ain't that.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: not that.

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And I'm not going to encourage

you to do have anyone else do that

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either, which always shocks people.

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What do you mean?

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Well, because we don't know that those are

the most effective systems that you have.

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Why waste time documenting something

that we're going to revise, improve?

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Remove, delete, you know,

whatever, whatever it is.

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And so documentation of systems is useful

once you know you really have a useful,

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effective, proper, um, whatever term you

want to put around it, system in place.

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But people assume that by documenting

it, they now have a system.

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Nope, they had a system long

before they put any word to paper.

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But if we're going to put word to

paper or computer, um, then let's

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make sure we're actually documenting

what we want to continue to do for at

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least some extended period of time.

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It may not be forever.

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You know, that's also part of it is

these things will change over time.

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Um, but let's make sure we're

documenting what we actually want to do.

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Not necessarily what we're doing.

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Got it.

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Okay.

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So we want to make sure that whatever

we do document is productive.

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in some way.

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It's the best way we know how to do

the thing in this given period of

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: Yep.

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No,

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: document a system?

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Um, you know, I'm a big fan

of a Google Doc, but I know

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some people like spreadsheets.

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Other people like task management systems.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: No, there are

multiple right answers to this.

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And within any organization, there's

also multiple right answers to this.

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Um, back to getting consistent about how

you're answering that question really

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becomes important.

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the important piece of

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Mm hmm.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: Um, and so one of

my things is the fewer places that

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you have to change something when

something changes, the better.

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So I'm not a fan of having, um, you

know, a whole set of like a project

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plan or a whole set of tasks in a,

you know, a system like, you know,

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ClickUp or Asana or, you know, any,

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Mm hmm.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: and then also duplicating

that in some sort of spreadsheet

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or Google doc or any other place.

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Because now you have

to change it two places

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Right,

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: when something changes.

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Right.

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So you can say the project plan for,

you know, this launch can be found

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here in Asana and have it link.

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And so then, but you know that the tasks

themselves are listed out in Asana, and

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that's the only place that you change it.

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So that when someone says, yeah,

where do I find the project

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plan for this particular launch?

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If they go to the Google

Docs, like, oh, go here.

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Oh, here it is.

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And we assume that that is

the most current version.

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And if anything needs to be changed,

it's often changed on the fly

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as they're, as people are doing.

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It's like, oh yeah, we're not

using that software anymore.

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We need to use this other software or,

you know, whatever the case may be.

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: right.

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Okay,

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so, so we've established that systems

are really consistent behaviors, um,

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that you document, but documentation

alone does not equal a system.

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I love that you just pointed

out that, you know, systems are

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not special software, right?

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There's no right or wrong way.

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It can, a system can be as easy as a

handwritten checklist, it sounds like,

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can be as complex as some kind

of interactive checklist system

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that you have with really pricey

software that I've not heard of.

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I'm sure if somebody listening

or watching knows of this pricey

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software, they'll tell us about them.

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That's the one thing I love about

having conversations like this in

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public view is that people can tell us

the things that we haven't thought of.

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You've also talked about the importance of

recognizing your behavior patterns, right?

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What, what it is you do, you know,

are you the person who's always

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going to ignore the phone call that

comes from an unrecognized number?

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Or are you the person who picks up every

phone call just because that's your

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habit of picking up every phone call?

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So I'm wondering about

the unconscious behaviors.

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What are the, about the behaviors

that we have that we don't know we

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have, that could be either driving

our success or maybe sabotaging it?

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What do you have to say about those?

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Mm hmm.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: So this is

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the place where having someone

work with you outside is really,

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you know, that's an outside

observer, really can be beneficial.

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Um, you know, you and I have had this

conversation, I can't even guess how

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many dozens if not hundreds of times

by now, where you will say something

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and I will say, well, what do you mean?

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Because For me, it's so natural, it's so

subconscious, it's so automatic, I don't

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understand that it's unusual or that

there's a particular nuance to it that

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is different than what most everybody

else in the world sees or hears or does.

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Um, and so having someone who's able

to actually look outside and say, all

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right, do you recognize that you do this?

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And for you to be able to

say, well, no, why would I?

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I mean, of course I do that.

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Right.

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And because in our mind, that's the thing.

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It's like, well, of course I do that.

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Why, how would you not do that?

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And,

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: How

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would you not?

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: how would you not?

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I, I know there's several

times I've said that to you.

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What do you mean?

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How would you not?

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And you're like, oh no, no, no

one, no one else does it that way.

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And I'm

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Nobody

else would do that.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: It seems like craziness.

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And I am a really good observer

of systems and behaviors.

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And I can't see it about myself either.

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Sometimes you have to have someone else

watching to see what that thing is, to

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see what that little magic potion, what

that little phrasing, whatever, you know,

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there can be all sorts of little things

that really do make a big difference.

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Um, and you just can't see it for

yourself because it's, it's just so

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natural that it's unidentifiable.

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Yes.

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And you know what, this reminds me

of a conversation we had recently,

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uh, might've been last week.

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Might've been yesterday.

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Time is a, is a fuzzy

thing for me sometimes.

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Um, so you were talking to somebody

about, like, there was, you were talking

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to a, a business owner and there was a

challenge, um, with, with a staff member

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and what it came, you had pointed out

to the business owner, you said, well.

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Um, you know, your, your staff member

can't get started on the project because

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you haven't given them enough information.

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And the business owner

was like, yeah, I have.

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I told them this and this.

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And you're like, yeah, yeah,

but that's not enough for them.

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And you'd said something, which was, I

bet you haven't given them that piece

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of information because you want the

freedom to change your mind later.

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And they went, yeah.

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And you actually, I mean, you

tie it all to Myers Briggs.

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But, you know, as I was watching

that interchange, I was going, Oh,

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so this is an example of how the

business owner, because their desire

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to keep things fluid so that they can

change their mind, they can kind of,

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you know, bob and weave as needed,

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: And it's been

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good for them.

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That's been part of their success,

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: right.

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That's part of the success.

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But as they are developing team

members into higher level positions,

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it's actually working against them

because These individuals can't

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perform at the level that the business

owner expects because they don't

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have the information that they need.

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Um, so that's the most concrete example I

can think of of how this whole unconscious

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behavior sort of sabotages success.

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Can you think of others or do you

want to maybe expand upon that one?

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Mm

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: Well, let's uh,

that's a great example and so

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let's just expand upon, upon it.

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Um, when, when we hold all of the

cards, when we are the solopreneur,

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truly the solopreneur, um, you know,

we get to do everything our way.

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Absolutely 100 percent everything our way.

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Um, but If the fact that I'm left

handed means that you now have to do

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everything left handed, that could

become a real problem because now

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I can only hire left handed people.

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So where are the things that we

actually can do some give on, right?

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Where, where is there space

for, for some give in there?

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And, Entrepreneurs, particularly

solopreneurs as they start,

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really like the flexibility.

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That's a lot.

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I mean, often you say, why did

you start your own business?

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Well, I wanted flexibility.

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You know, that

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Freedom

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and flexibility,

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: and flexibility.

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Oh my

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Freedom and flexibility.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: Um, but the problem

is too much freedom and flexibility

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for anyone, including the owner,

means other people can't start

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making decisions for themselves.

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Because there's no way to predict

what owner answer would be,

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EPISODE 7 TONYA: Mm.

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EPISODE 7 GWEN: right?

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Now, if we start standardizing,

often the owner creative is

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like, that means I can't change.

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Well, no, you always can change,

but you can't change without

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:

dealing with the consequences.

363

:

Now, here's the reality that most

people don't understand, is They're

364

:

dealing with those consequences,

whether they know they are or not.

365

:

Every time that they're making that

change, that shift, whatever, where

366

:

before some, they were doing it, they

didn't realize all the consequences

367

:

that they were causing, because they

were just causing them to themselves.

368

:

And so it was just a thing

and that's the way it went.

369

:

And this is the way I work.

370

:

And, you know, you can justify,

you know, pretty much anything if

371

:

you want, if you try hard enough.

372

:

But now that there's other

people in the equation.

373

:

That same cost is now showing

up in a different way.

374

:

And so there's this reflection of what's

happening with this system, right?

375

:

And so that flexibility is probably

still important, but the question

376

:

is, how important is the thing that

we're trying to remain flexible on?

377

:

Um, do you really not know?

378

:

Do you really need time to process?

379

:

Or are you just wanting.

380

:

Another two weeks to be absolutely

sure that the answer that you thought

381

:

of four weeks ago is still the

answer that you have, um, which I

382

:

see that a lot with entrepreneurs.

383

:

And, and so systems start putting these

pieces in place and you start finding

384

:

where am I gumming up the works with

me wanting to have all the flexibility.

385

:

Because we often think that

all of this intuition is what's

386

:

actually driving, um, our, our

processes, our systems, our success.

387

:

Um, usually it's not.

388

:

There's usually a little bit at

the beginning and a little bit at

389

:

the end, but most of the middle

is actually fairly consistent.

390

:

And the more consistent it is, you

actually end up with better results.

391

:

But everyone thinks they need all sorts

of flexibility in all of these spaces.

392

:

And, and it's, it's not actually helpful.

393

:

Because it's allowing you to use up

way too many cycles trying to process a

394

:

decision that really you already made.

395

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: Okay.

396

:

So,

397

:

uh, that actually leads

into my next question.

398

:

Uh, sounds

399

:

like you kind of

400

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: when I do that.

401

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: I like

it when you do that, too.

402

:

That makes my life a lot easier.

403

:

Less setup on the question, right?

404

:

Um, which is, you know,

405

:

how do you create intentional systems

that support your goals and values?

406

:

And it sounds like what you

just said is you figure out

407

:

how much you can standardize.

408

:

and still feel the freedom that's

so important to you, so that you're

409

:

leaving the flexibility for the

things that truly need to be flexible.

410

:

Do you have an example

411

:

of that, like something concrete?

412

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: Yeah, so I'll, I'll,

I'll use, Us and the way that we work.

413

:

So

414

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: I like the yes example

because I have some inside knowledge.

415

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: couple of things

that are really important to

416

:

us is context matters, which

417

:

means we do not have a predefined process

that we're going to take you through

418

:

step by step by step by step by step,

419

:

because your outcome and, and, you

know, the next client's outcome, even

420

:

if you have very similar businesses,

may be very, very different.

421

:

And there's all sorts of

pieces that play into that.

422

:

But that doesn't mean we

don't have any systems

423

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: Mm

424

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: around that.

425

:

Okay.

426

:

Um, we have some places that we start

very consistently because we know that

427

:

we need to get this set of questions.

428

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: hmm.

429

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: that we have an onboarding

process that we want you to go through

430

:

because we've seen over time it works.

431

:

And so instead of being flexible

about all of those things, we're not.

432

:

There are some places where,

you know, we do this, we do

433

:

this, we do this, we do this.

434

:

We have some areas that we are

very, very consistent about.

435

:

But there are other areas

that we are very open about.

436

:

When we first start working together,

we have three different programs, and

437

:

depending on which one, you're going

to fall into one of those programs.

438

:

And I'm really not very flexible

for the first three to six months.

439

:

After you've worked with us for a

while, this is the place where, you

440

:

know, the choices become possible,

because I now know enough about you

441

:

and your business to know, is this

choice a reasonable choice or not?

442

:

But I don't let you have too much

flexibility because then you're

443

:

not going to make a decision.

444

:

You're not going to know what to do.

445

:

You're not going to have,

have direction, right?

446

:

So we will make adjustments as time

goes, as time goes forward, but we don't

447

:

just let all options available Right out

of the, right out of the chute, right?

448

:

Um, so there is some flexibility in there,

but there's also some systems in there.

449

:

We're going to do this thing

for a certain period of time.

450

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: Got it.

451

:

So that, that is really this, the

structure that goes in there is that we

452

:

know that there is this thing that we

will do for a significant period of time.

453

:

And then at the end of that time, then we

go to the next thing, then the next thing,

454

:

and that in and of itself is the system.

455

:

And there are systems within

that larger system, right?

456

:

And I think that's also where

we get tripped up, is sometimes

457

:

we don't realize that there's

three file folders in place here.

458

:

We want to look at it all

as one big parent folder.

459

:

And that's not, uh, oftentimes

that's just not how it works.

460

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: it, it,

461

:

it's not.

462

:

And, uh, you know, for instance,

we have onboarding processes and

463

:

there's part of our onboarding

process everybody goes through.

464

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: Mm hmm.

465

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: But part of our

onboarding process, only certain clients

466

:

that have, have purchased certain

packages and certain, um, you know,

467

:

consulting advisory services go through.

468

:

Um, so

469

:

the system is sort of the same, but

there's a point where this one diverges

470

:

and goes this way, but this, you know, but

you're still doing this one too, right?

471

:

So we all start here and then, and

then some people are still doing this

472

:

and doing this and others are just

doing this and that's okay, right?

473

:

Um, But instead of asking, you

know, what do you want to do here?

474

:

Do you want to do this?

475

:

Do you want it?

476

:

No, no, no, no.

477

:

We're, you know, and that allows

my folks to then also be able

478

:

to know what they have to do.

479

:

I can't even remember the last time I

had to deal with any onboarding issue.

480

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: right.

481

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: Because we're

doing it in a consistent way.

482

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: Mm hmm.

483

:

And what

484

:

we have seen, just as an aside, is that

as we have gotten consistent with how

485

:

we onboard individuals, it also has

streamlined the process of where people

486

:

are as they start working with us, right?

487

:

Everybody has a better experience because

we have standardized the onboarding.

488

:

So, okay, so sort of to sum up here,

when we're talking about systems,

489

:

we're really talking about harnessing

the power of consistent behavior

490

:

because everybody has a system.

491

:

You have systems even when you

don't think you do because systems

492

:

really are consistent behaviors.

493

:

And so you have helped us to

appreciate, well really it's been

494

:

a mutual conversation I would say,

of how you identify your behaviors

495

:

and it's really paying attention

to what you're doing day to day.

496

:

Asking yourself a question.

497

:

Why did I do that?

498

:

What led me to do it now versus later?

499

:

Um,

500

:

as it is

501

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: doing it?

502

:

Should I not be doing it?

503

:

Yeah, it's, it's

504

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: Am I the

best person to be doing this?

505

:

I think that was something you

506

:

said

507

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: it?

508

:

That's a great question to be asking.

509

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: Right?

510

:

And then when you're clear that the things

that you're doing actually are the right

511

:

things in the right order to get yourself

to the goals that you have set, then you

512

:

come in and you start writing them down.

513

:

Because that, those are the things

you want to make sure you, you

514

:

check every box each and every time.

515

:

And as far as the best way to document

them, that's really between you and

516

:

your own brain and how it's wired.

517

:

If you're a pen and paper person, yay you.

518

:

Checklist person, yay you.

519

:

Project management system, yay you.

520

:

You know, for your purposes, Gwen,

I don't think I've ever heard you

521

:

tell somebody, you know, to the

granular level of Notion versus

522

:

Trello versus Asana versus whatever.

523

:

It's like, you do you.

524

:

Am I right?

525

:

Am I talking to the school here?

526

:

Okay.

527

:

And then

528

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: And, and

529

:

that's a really important piece

because often people think the

530

:

tool will create the system.

531

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: yes,

I cannot tell you how

532

:

often, how often people have said

like, Oh, if you would just use

533

:

Notion, you wouldn't have that problem.

534

:

No, cause I'm still me.

535

:

This is a me problem.

536

:

It's been a me problem since I could walk.

537

:

It will continue to be a me problem and

they will never invent a tool that will

538

:

outsmart me because I, I am committed

to certain aspects of how I do things.

539

:

So yes, so it's not Notion,

it's not ClickUp, it's not

540

:

whatever, it's just how I operate.

541

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: Yes.

542

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: And, you know, one

of the things that you pointed out

543

:

is We have to identify and understand

our behavior patterns because we need

544

:

to be really aware of the things we

don't realize we're doing that are

545

:

secretly sabotaging our success.

546

:

And you know, you pointed out it's

that flexibility, that hunger for

547

:

flexibility and freedom oftentimes can

be our worst enemy when it comes to

548

:

growing our business because that's

what gets in the way of us being

549

:

willing to commit to a written list

of this is how we do things here.

550

:

Have I left anything out?

551

:

EPISODE 7 GWEN: the, yeah.

552

:

And the real key about that is when you

are no longer using your brain power to

553

:

be making what I'm going to call everyday

decisions, now they may not be every

554

:

day, but they're, recurring decisions.

555

:

You're actually freeing up your

brain power and that choice

556

:

possibility for really doing the

creative work of the business.

557

:

You can't explain it until

someone has experienced it.

558

:

When all of a sudden they're like, I

have so much more time to think about

559

:

this, or I came up with this great idea

that I would have never Yes, that's

560

:

right, because you were spending way

too much time trying to figure out A

561

:

or B, A or B, A or B, A or B, when you

know it's A 95 percent of the time,

562

:

and when it's B, it's okay if it's A.

563

:

So just, just standardize on A.

564

:

A's gonna be fine.

565

:

Yeah.

566

:

EPISODE 7 TONYA: Yeah.

567

:

Okay.

568

:

So, um, now, you know, I want to

turn this over to our listeners.

569

:

Like, I am curious, am I the

only person who this perspective

570

:

on systems, like, am I the only

person whose mind's blown by this?

571

:

Because honestly, I've never

heard it discussed this way.

572

:

And so I'm glad that we were able to

have the conversation in public view.

573

:

Uh, and I'm curious if you're listening,

like, what unconscious behaviors Do you

574

:

now recognize are affecting your business?

575

:

And I want you to let me know.

576

:

So email me at tonya, T O N

Y A at everydayeffectiveness.

577

:

com to tell me your story and help

inform future episodes of the show.

578

:

Because that's really, I think

what makes this conversation about

579

:

the business you really want so

powerful is the ability to have those

580

:

real time relevant conversations.

581

:

So until next time, we will see you soon.

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