EP 191: Your Business Is A Mess–And That’s Okay With Tara McMullin

The Nitty-Gritty:



* Tara shares why it’s important to clean things up–but not get caught up in making things perfect* Why the mess exists–and how that’s a feature, not a bug* How to use hypotheses instead of discrete goals to learn more about what works for you* How to create adaptable plans based on your particular mess and your goals







Businesses get messy—old products, defunct systems, cluttered inboxes.



And we’re talking about how to clean up your business all this month. You’ve already heard from Jereshia Hawk who took mess of offers and streamlined her business to just one product. You just heard from Mindy Totten who figured out how to clean up her schedule and work just 3 days per week.



You even heard from me about 3 ways I’ve been cleaning up my business over the last 2 years.



But, I think it’s also important to say that…



Your business will always be a mess.



The mess is a feature, not a bug.



Sure, we want to make sure there isn’t excess clutter or wasted money—but we also shouldn’t focus so much on making things perfect that we forget the beauty in the imperfection.



Today, instead of cleaning things up, I want to highlight the mess.



You see, your business is a series of interwoven systems, mechanisms, and information that impact and influence each other so that no one component can be singled out as a problem or a solution.



Every time you clean something up or organize a mess…



…you end up uncovering something else that needs to be addressed.



Russell Ackoff, a pioneer in both management science and systems thinking, said:



Managers are not confronted with problems that are independent of each other, but with dynamic situations that consist of complex systems of changing problems that interact with each other. I call such situations messes. Problems are extracted from messes by analysis. Managers do not solve problems, they manage messes.



If you feel like you solve one problem only to discover another, this is why. If you feel like every time you make an incredible discovery about your business it changes everything, this is why. If you feel like everything you learn about growing your business seems to influence everything you’ve experienced running your business, this is why.



It’s a mess.



And that’s okay.



Your job is to manage this mess.



That means being willing to adapt, try new things, experiment, and — most importantly — accept that the work is never done.



Every change you make to your website has the potential to ripple through the rest of your business. Every adjustment you make to your pricing can set off a chain reaction. Every revision you make to your plan could create a counteraction later on down the line.



The more aware you are of the messy nature of your business, the more you can use the mess to your advantage.



The real problem is that…



You’re not planning for the mess.



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