CHAMPION MINDSET
Take Your Damned Foot Off The Brake
BY ROBIN ROBINS
Here we are again – pushing through the first quarter of a new year . Last year felt fast .
Maybe that ’ s due to the massive growth we ’ ve had , adding just shy of $ 14 million in ARR and an overall revenue increase of 31 %. Growth IS painful and chaotic , often creating more stress and anxiety than slow to no growth , which is why so many businesses only eke out tiny incremental growth year over year . They intentionally , or subconsciously , keep a foot on the brake at all times , like the little old ladies driving around at 15 miles per hour , only blue hair and knuckles visible over the steering wheel as they putter down the street , creating traffic jams and going nowhere fast , cursing under their breath about all these “ crazy drivers ” speeding along at 40 miles per hour .
At events , I often show a slide that describes the behaviors of two mindsets – the entrepreneur on one side and the tech with helpers on the other : the entrepreneurial “ brain ” being the gas pedal that loves to innovate , sell stuff , do marketing and go fast ; the operations / tech brain operating as a brake , wanting to slow everything down , find reasons why things won ’ t work , attempting to organize everything to the point of going nowhere , fearful , timid and HIGHLY skeptical of anything that smells like a sales pitch . I DO point out that the tech “ brain ” is necessary since a car without brakes is a very dangerous vehicle to operate , but most are too heavily mired in that “ go slow ” mindset ( brake pedal ) that tolerates – or even outright resents – salespeople and marketing , that fears speed and change , that wants to have an organized , low-stress , no-surprises existence doing the tech work . This is what we call a job .
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