Behind The X's & O's of Business — behind the x's and o's

What happens after you recognize a possibility in your business? You don't always need the whole plan figured out. Sometimes the next step is simply being willing to try something real enough to learn from it—because eventually, “What if?” has to become “Let's find out.”

After years in business, you'd think the questions would eventually stop. I'm starting to believe the opposite is true. Maybe growth isn't finally having all the answers. Maybe it's being willing to keep learning when the questions change.

Yesterday, we looked at what your business needed you to know. Today, we're looking for something even more revealing: repetition. Because when your business keeps asking the same question, it may not need another answer. It may need a system.

Friday, I gave business owners a simple assignment: every time your business reached for you, write down what they needed you to know. Today, we're not judging the list. We're reading it. Because those interruptions may tell you exactly where your business still depends on you—and where your next system needs to be built.

What would happen if you simply didn't show up to work Monday morning? Not because you're sick. Not because there's an emergency. You're just unavailable. How long would it take before somebody needed something that only you knew? Today, we're not judging those moments. We're going to start collecting them—because they may show us exactly what our business needs to learn how to do without us.