Growing up, one of my favorite bands was the Red Hot Chili Peppers and I have always wanted to go to one of their concerts. Last November, I saw they were on tour and coming to Lincoln, so I snatched up four tickets before they sold out.
As the concert date approached, the anticipation mounted for all four of us.
Before I finish the story, let me ask you a quick question.
Did you read the subject line of this email accurately?
Maybe. Check again.
If you thought that subject line said “The Red Hot Chili Peppers” you’re wrong. It said “Pipers”.
I had bought tickets to see a Scottish bagpipe band who played various rock covers from the 80’s. Bagpipes!
This blunder has become legendary in our family now and I’m confident I’ll get teased for it for decades to come.
You Do the Same Thing in Your Business
After the concert I was thinking, I didn’t misread “Pipers” because I was careless, I misread it because my brain saw something familiar, made a quick judgment, and moved on.
And you know what? You do the same thing in your business all the time and it’s costing you and your team a LOT of headaches.
You walk into a meeting, glance at a P&L, hear a complaint from a team member, and within about four seconds your brain has already filed it.
I’ve seen this one before…
Marketing issue.
People issue.
Pricing issue.
Unknowingly, you THINK you’re solving what’s in front of you. In reality, you’re solving what your brain assumed was in front of you; and those are two very different things.
Last quarter’s decline in sales wasn’t a marketing issue, it was a product issue your top customer tried to tell you about three months ago.
The friction on your team isn’t a personnel issue; you don’t have clearly defined lanes and responsibilities for your team and no one is clear on who owns what.
But you already moved.
You already gave direction.
You already deployed people to chase the wrong target.
And now you’re frustrated that things aren’t working.
Here’s the problem.
When you misread something, your team takes your interpretation of the situation and runs with it, because when the founder says something with confidence, people don’t push back.
They stop investigating and start executing.
And six months later, everybody’s standing in front of bagpipes wondering how they got there, while you’re wondering why your team can’t seem to solve problems anymore.
What Do You Do About This?
When the solution to a problem snaps into a clean, obvious shape immediately, get suspicious of yourself. You might be headed down the path of bagpipes.
Ask vs. Assume
Listen vs. Leap
Repeat vs. Rush
Discover vs. Dictate
Before you give direction, have the person closest to the problem describe it in their own words first. Not yours. You’ll be surprised how often what they say doesn’t match what you already concluded.
PS – In case you’re wondering, yes, we decided to go to the concert anyway and yes, it was awful. We ended up leaving early, but still had a good time!
