Some things can’t be measured
Some things can’t be measured… I don’t know if this blog is good, bad or indifferent or whether it’ll make you pick up the phone to me. To be honest, I’d be delighted if it encourages you to connect with me, but it’s just a part of my journey in sharing, helping and connecting people and I’m not measuring it, as I’ve just enjoyed writing it.
What value do you place on something that you just instinctively know is working and why? In my years of experience having met and formed amazing relationships with a huge circle of people from all walks of life, I believe there are many times when it is dangerous and short sighted to apply a single measurement to the things we do. Results come from people learning and sharing together. Some things can’t be measured.
“open rates”, “click throughs”, “likes”, “followers”, “conversion rates”, “ROI”, “feedback”, “ratings”, “profit”, etc, etc. If you place too much emphasis on the destination, you’ll miss out on the journey and can end up with siloed thinking and no context. Some things can’t be measured
Sometimes, things are just meant to be and work out fine, even if you don’t know why. That’s the force of natural evolution and positive energy. Now I’m not going to get all spiritual on this, but instinct is a powerful thing. Your instinct is supported by your own experiences, values and beliefs in what you do and have done. The “ologists” out there will point to your childhood experiences and some probable deeper cause, which may be right, but at the centre of all this is just hard work, preparation and working with great people who, when you join your thinking together, contribute to the right outcome.
Given that everything we do in business is just an opinion (please challenge me if you disagree), then getting to know people and aligning your thoughts, feelings and opinions has to be the best approach to delivering great results.
Consider the following:
- When were you pleased with something, despite your doubts?
- What was the last unexpected surprise you had?
- Have you ever done something that just worked but you didn’t know why?
- Have you ever seen your sales increase for no obvious reason?
- Why do you like one idea over another?
- What was the last risk you took that worked?
- What was the last “wow” moment you had?
- What did you learn from the last mistake you made?
- When did you last have a lucky break?
- When did you last trust someone else and what happened?
Being an entrepreneur is a journey and not a destination and sometimes great things just happen. During the journey, you learn what works and what doesn’t. It’s OK to make mistakes and for things not to work out. There should be no blame or fault in that: failures and mistakes are the best way to learn and benchmark success, just ask Richard Branson, but perhaps avoid asking your FD!
The starting point should not be “if I can’t measure this, then it won’t work and I won’t do it”; that’s putting yourself at a disadvantage and you’ll miss out on opportunities. Entrepreneurs are too often put under undue pressure to perform, based on hard metrics and forced expectations. Great entrepreneurs have amazing gut instincts, huge intuition and heaps of belief.
Of course, placing a measurement on something is one of the mainstays of assessing progress and in your business, you’ll be hard pushed to argue this with your board of directors. However, remember that nobody actually wants to fail, so perhaps try putting the hard metrics to one side for a moment and figure out intuitively what will it take to make things work; you might just be pleasantly surprised.
Have fun with your business and enjoy your entrepreneurial journey. Remember that Aristotle said “pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work”.
I love being an entrepreneur and thrive on hearing people’s stories, so come and share your journey with me.
Get in touch at piers@pierso.co.uk, call me on 073 666 55 666 or find me on Linked In or Facebook. I might be wrong, but I am never uncertain and I’ll certainly lend you an ear!