Jackie Zach
September 8, 2024
In this episode of the Tough Love for Business podcast, Jackie Zach and Mike McKay emphasize the importance of avoiding impulsive decisions in business, likening such actions to road rage and the temptation to chase after “bright, shiny pennies” before completing ongoing projects. They stress that strategic planning and patience are essential for success, urging business owners to resist emotional reactions and focus on long-term goals. By sharing their experiences, they highlight the need for persistence, proper management, and the value of testing and measuring progress before prematurely abandoning a project.
The hosts also discuss the significance of communication, employee development, and investing in people and processes. They warn against giving up on employees or projects too soon, noting that success often comes in the later stages of sustained effort. Through personal anecdotes, they underline the importance of leadership self-reflection, careful decision-making, and long-term planning. Ultimately, they encourage listeners to prioritize their teams, avoid hasty decisions, and commit to strategies that foster enduring business success.
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Podcast Transcript:
Jackie Zach: Alright, welcome to Tough Love for Business. I’m Jackie Zach, here with my co-host Mike McKay. Today we’re talking about: don’t do stupid stuff. This was a Daily Dose topic a while back. Have you ever thought, “That was really dumb, why did I do that?” The key is, a lot of times we’re just reacting. We do things fast without thinking, then later go, “Well, that was dumb. Why did I do that?”
Mike McKay: It’s like road rage. There’s zero point in it. You see YouTube videos of road rage gone bad, and it’s just stupid. People aren’t thinking about you or trying to piss you off, but everything is neutral until you give it meaning. We say don’t do stupid stuff, which means take the high road instead of the lower one, which can be hard sometimes.
Jackie: It is very difficult. Recently, I’ve had to take the high road, and it’s hard because I really, really, really want to say something.
Mike: Yeah, me too. But there’s no positive outcome from doing something stupid. In business, stupid things include keeping someone too long, hoping they’ll magically improve, or not putting in the effort to develop your people. Assuming everyone knows what you’re thinking without proper communication, or not following the “17 times rule” for communication, are also common mistakes. But the most frequent stupid thing is, “I know what to do, I just didn’t do it.” The lack of action is often the stupid thing.
Jackie: I would add bright, shiny pennies to that.
Mike: That’s interesting because we’ve talked before about how long it takes to actually complete something—usually at least 90 days for a thorough test. Last week, two coaches we’re working with both wanted to start something new after just 60 days of testing something. Starting over with a bright, shiny penny means going back to square one. After 60 days, it feels like nothing’s happening, and that can be terrifying. There’s a book called “Three Feet From Gold” that explains this concept. All the payoff is in the last 30 days. But when you’re in the middle of it, it feels difficult and frustrating. The problem is, giving up too soon costs you everything. You jump to the next bright, shiny penny, then have to invest 60 to 90 days into that, and nothing’s ever completed. If you keep repeating this cycle, eventually your company can’t support it, and you have to close.
Jackie: For most entrepreneurs, myself included, patience is a virtue. It’s about stopping, thinking, and taking a breath before making decisions. Not an eight-year breath—just enough to consider the pros and cons instead of reacting and moving from thing to thing. Stupid decisions happen when we don’t stop and think. We just react.
Mike: I’m not going to sugarcoat it—doing something for 90 days is hard. We did it in the third quarter, and it wasn’t until the last two weeks of 13 that it became clear it worked. But in the meantime, we decided to split our companies, so we lost focus. We did the same with our referral program: 90 days in, we started getting referrals, but they weren’t qualified. So the next 90 days were focused on quality, and it’s better but not done. We still have two and a half weeks to go, but I messed that up by shutting us down for the holidays. We’re shutting down for the holiday week this year, so we won’t know the final outcome until January. But we added another layer because it’s improving, though still not where we’d like it.
I can’t overlook that mastering referrals could greatly impact our business—and yours if you’re listening. It’s worth the effort, but you need the full testing period to see results. Initially, we weren’t getting referrals, so we asked and got unqualified ones. Now, we have a mix of qualified and unqualified referrals, but we’re not converting them because we lacked a conversion process. One stupid mistake is getting referrals and not handling them properly—don’t do that. Our focus for Q1 2024 is bringing referrals to an event and having a conversion process ready. Recent referrals have been high-quality, and stopping now would be a huge mistake since we could gain two to four clients a month.
Jackie: And think about that with employees. If someone isn’t performing, first ask, “Am I managing them properly? Am I helping them?” Then test and measure. Are they improving or not? But don’t just fire someone because they made a mistake—unless it’s big or ethical. Instead, stop and ask, “What’s underneath?” You always say, people don’t come to work thinking, “I’m going to be awful today.” They want to do a good job. So, today’s question is, “What active steps are you taking? Have you thought it through?” Take action, then decide, “Enough is enough.” If there’s no improvement, let them go. Don’t string them along for two years. I did that with a friend when I owned a business. It was dumb. Don’t do stupid stuff—learn from our mistakes.
Mike: That’s an interesting point—it was a friend. Keith Cunningham says businesses are teams, not families. The familiarity effect makes it hard to lead friends because it feels more personal to tell them, “Hey, you’re screwing up, you have to go.” But it happens all the time.
So to wrap up, here are a few stupid things to avoid: One is test and measure means test and measure. Set a hypothesis—you’re not going from zero to hero in a week. Look for weekly improvements on a percentage basis. Remember that for most strategies, the payoff comes in the last two weeks of a 90-day period. It’s worth the effort to stick it out because if you’ve been in business for a while, think back—if you’d finished something successfully every quarter, where would you be today? Are you there? My answer is, we’re not. If we’d done the level of work we’re doing now for the 45 quarters we’ve existed, we’d have a different business. It’s frustrating while you’re doing it, but worth the time to invest in it.
Invest in management training. Not investing is stupid. If you buy a truck, it wears out. If you invest in people, they get better. People aren’t widgets—they’re people. But if you pay attention to the basics of business, you can make something great happen for you and your people in a relatively short time.
Jackie: Exactly, exactly. So the lesson of the day: don’t do stupid stuff, and remember, you’re a professional business owner.