Some of you may remember the story of Noah’s Ark. Noah was building an ark and while he did so people were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage. Then, one day, he entered the Ark, battened down the hatches and it started to rain. It rained for another 150 days and when Noah finally unbattened the hatches and stepped out again into the world, it was a completely different world that he stepped into. The old world had gone and could never return; whatever was to happen now would be new.
That is exactly what happened to me. There was this old world that I was part of; then, I had two malignant tumours in my small intestine, went into hospital for 3 months (my Ark, Ward 17!), had two major operations, nearly died, but emerged into the land of the living, the new world, in late October 2011, about 2 years ago. And I would argue that this experience happens to everyone who has a serious illness: there is before the event and there is after the event. Two different worlds that never meet. It’s not only, of course, just those who are privileged to be seriously ill! Those, too, who mind some loved one who is seriously ill; and those who have lost someone extremely dear to them. For all of us there is before and after the Flood.
But these experiences do provide us with opportunities to think about life and its meaning, and I think if we are sensible, we can learn something from it. I certainly did. What I learnt personally I have discussed elsewhere, but what did I learn from a business perspective? What did my cancer teach me about my business? Has it made a difference? The answers are ‘lots’ and ‘yes’!
Three big lessons emerged for me from my illness. The first, as I lay there, was the realization that if I died my business would fold. In other I realized that I had not any succession plan in place and furthermore that I had not begun my business with the end in mind. On the contrary, I had run the business as a life style choice and when people asked me when I intended to retire I had replied, in all seriousness, ‘Never’. Somehow I thought that having been in business for 18 years that I could just carry on indefinitely. Wow! This illness certainly brought that assumption into sharp relief.
Since escaping hospital we now have 3 new directors on our Board with a CEO-designate, a new vision and a new 5 year plan. Is that making a difference? You bet.
Second, I also realized that although I had created a great product, the Motivational Map, I hadn’t productized enough. That as Peter Drucker said, only two things make money for a business: marketing and innovation, all else is a cost. The innovation of our product needed to be taken to a new level.
Since escaping hospital we now have Motivational Maps versions 2.0 and more recently version 2.1; these are massive upgrades on the original. We have also had the Map translated into 5 European languages. Plus we have detailed plans for a Recruitment Map, a superior Organizational Map, and more beside. Is that making a difference? You bet.
Finally, I realized the full force of the Michael Gerber ‘e-myth’ philosophy. I had spent 18 years being a fabulous trainer, coach and mentor and I liked doing it. But I was spending too much time working ‘in’ and not ‘on’ the business. Put another way, I was too operational and not strategic enough. And this meant not only insufficient attention being paid to the marketing, but also not enough was being spent on the productization, the innovation stuff, on which the long-term security rested.
Since escaping hospital we now have made the decision to retire me from training, coaching and mentoring permanently at the end of this year. It’s hard, but it’s necessary. There are very good people who can take my place.
And what has all this business learning done for the business? Masses! But just to headline a few points. We have sold almost as many maps in one year as we sold in six years before! We were operating in five countries and in just over a year we have doubled that to twelve countries. Plus, we have attracted serious corporate attention and more. So, there is no doubt, these have been valuable lessons.
I wouldn’t wish anyone to be as ill as I was in order to learn these lessons, but the reality is that good came from my illness. Perhaps this article will help you get to achieving your business objectives sooner rather than later – at least, try to avoid the illness teaching you! Learn from my pain.
The Mapping Motivation Series 