Time goes by

Wow. It's been July since my last post. Nevertheless, I have been working on the book with some time off to travel to Kashmir and Pakistan for my non-profit Kashmir Family Aid. Linda went with me this time. Quite a trip. We returned on October 19th and since then have been laid low by the excruciating jet lag that is a result of crossing 12 time zones twice within a two week period.

Now my energy has resurfaced and I'm back on the book again and maybe 70% finished with the publish date moved to January. It's interesting, writing a book about a totally boring concept but one that has dramatic, long-term positive results. It's a reversal of how we Westerner's like things to happen: we want excitement up-front; excitement that requires a minimum of effort.  And, here is the secret: The key to the Work the System method is documentation and that is something the huge majority of people will avoid. They always use the endemic "I'm too busy" excuse and this is exactly why if you document in a rational and systematic way you will be in a class by yourself. I love that aspect of this. To become exciting, do something boring.

So, the goals of serenity and prosperity are WAY more likely through self discipline and perseverance than not. And, sorry, the short-cut methods don't work the majority of the time and no matter, if one becomes succesful and is not organized as the wheels start to roll, it's down the drain anyway due to inefficiencies.

Things at Centratel are great. Profitability has never been higher and the necessity of me being in the office has never been lower. This make me even more passionate about finishing the book.

Here's  another excerpt:

Statistics show that of 100 new business started, only 20 will remain after five years. Then, in the next five years, only four will be left of the original 100. In another five, there will remain only one. That’s a 99% fatality rate over a fifteen year period. It makes one want to go right out, borrow some major money, and start a new business: Yes? Or, it makes one wonder at the long-term  prospects in working for a small business. Why even begin? There is an 80% chance your job will disappear within five years. Look around yourself and gauge the comings and goings of the people around you. Are you next? Are you coming…or going?

There are all kinds of mistakes that contribute to a business, career or life’s failure, but the root reason is too often “death by a thousand cuts,” the relentless erosion of recurring inefficiencies and their offspring:  end-to-end problems and distractions (remember the moles?). These time-wasters undermine the a business’s efforts to create and then sell a good product that truly has a viable market. And in a personal life? You’ve seen it in some of the people around you: The ones who can’t seem to break out of the bad-luck syndrome. Really, it’s not mysterious bad luck for these people. It’s serial inefficiency in the way they operate – inefficiencies that, once recognized, are easy to understand and easy to fix

The problem in the workplace and in so many lives is simple chaos brought on by the failure to, first, slow down and decide what the goals are and how to get reach them and, second, how to get organized and start down a straight path without the drain of recurring inefficiencies. So many times it is fire-ready-aim instead of ready-aim-fire. Again – it’s worth repeating – the problem is simple chaos brought on by the failure to, first, slow down and decide what the goals are and how to reach them and, second, how to get organized and start down a straight path without recurring inefficiencies. Yes, the key phrase is slow down and – let me guess – it’s what you are struggling with right now as you work your way through this book.

Yes, it’s not an exciting concept but for your business, speed and efficiency and profitability will be the result of accuracy and precision in creating procedures. Go slow and be precise with your procedure creation and the result will be that when you put them into operation, the processes they describe will become fast and efficient. The slow part is a one-time thing – the creation of the procedure; the fast part – the actual processes that happen over and over again – are what count in the long run.

I don’t deny it, the stodgy cure is to get the details down on paper. First there is the Strategic Objective: That’s easy. And then there are the Operating Principles. More work here, but not all that much. Then, third, especially for your business or your job and less so for your personal life, there are Working Procedures, the ongoing “this will forever be a part of my workplace life” documentation. This documentation will be created, deleted and changed constantly as the years go by. But remember, like the first two documents, it’s not all that much work considering the profound results that will ensue. For every unit of effort and time expended, the return in personal time and financial freedom will be one hundred fold. I am not exaggerating.