The Business Of Paradigms

What separates the super-successful business owner from the average business owner?  What are the key things that they may be doing differently from the average that puts them in the top 4% of their field in terms of business excellence and profits?

Believe it or not we actually do know the common traits of serial super-successful entrepreneurs: what they do, how they act and respond in given situations.

The traits and behaviours – the ‘attitude’ of the super-successful have been well researched and documented.  Even the way that a successful business is structured has been mapped and systemised.  Normally when I work with any business I will follow a pretty standard system of implementation – identifying the weaker areas and ‘re-structuring’ the business whilst coaching and advising the business owner on how to attain and maintain improved results.

Gaining a different result within any business will require a different attitude and behaviour from the business owner and their team.

And yet one of the biggest blocks to success within any business model can be attributed to an interesting concept – paradigm paralysis of the business owner.  Even when they clearly define a desired result (i.e. more clients / profit) AND a clear step by step route / path is provided on how to get there, this still doesn’t guarantee success.  This can be down to the Business Paradigm.

The Business Paradigm:

When applied to business this can be defined as a habit of reasoning of what we think a business ‘is’.  Now bearing in mind that if our business is seriously underperforming and we are sure that we know what our business ‘is’ then it might follow suit that our paradigm just might need a little ‘tweak’! This is one reason why a serial entrepreneur may not understand why a struggling business owner is struggling at all and vice-versa.  What may be very clear to one person can be completely invisible to another due to differing paradigms – this may also be referred to as the Paradigm Effect  – existing business paradigms can trap us into thinking about seeing our business in a certain way – if we view something from a certain perspective this can also cloud our vision and our judgement.

This can lead us to Business Paradigm ‘Paralysis’:

Which, simply stated, is the inability or refusal of the business owner (or individual team members) to see beyond their current thinking model (i.e. the business owner I may come across who insists to me that the way they currently run their business is correct – even though they may have serious business problems. Needless to say I tend to steer clear at this point!)

Business Paradigm ‘Shifting’:

One of the most satisfying parts of working with any business owner to improve their business performance is when a paradigm ‘shift’ occurs.  A paradigm shift can be described as a major change in the way of thinking about your business.  A great example of this is the speed that it is now possible to find information anywhere in the world on the internet.  This would have been described as impossible just a few years ago – and is now reality.

A business paradigm is your version of your business ‘world’: It defines your business boundaries and how you will behave within those boundaries.

Many people run their own businesses by ‘trial and error’ so to cause a shift in paradigm will, in most cases, be driven by the conclusion that ‘there just must be a better way to do this’.  This can be driven by pure frustration and trying to move away from this frustration or ‘pain’.  What we perceive as unsolvable business problems or ‘paradigms’ can be shifted by the introduction of an idea or concept to try something in a different way.  Even though there may be skepticism at first – a sudden change in results may cause an instant paradigm shift.  (This can be most common when I’m working with sales teams on new sales strategies that I know will work (because they’ve worked in other businesses) – they try something new and get a result and the old paradigm is shattered or ‘shifted’)

Become a Business Paradigm ‘Shifter’:

Serial Entrepreneurs, then, may simply be regarded as Business Paradigm ‘Shifters’. Those individuals who challenge their own (and others) paradigms.  They challenge their own boundaries by repeatedly being prepared to ‘fail’ to shift an existing paradigm to a new paradigm – and so on.  They drive their business more on ‘gut’ feeling than necessarily ‘logic’.  They will seek out experts in their field to challenge and shift their own paradigms.  They are prepared to go well out of their comfort zone if necessary to explore a new paradigm and gain a new result (even in the face of doubt from others).

What have you learnt about the power of paradigms within your own business? What do you think a Business Paradigm ‘Shifter’ might do differently in your own business? How does this shift your business paradigm?

Kind Regards,

Mike

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