There is a lot of rubbish written and talked about giving more than 100%, giving your 120% or even 150% in a business, team and even sports environment. It might sound good to hear and even motivational to some, but the simple fact is if people are performing way higher than you expected or you want them to perform better than they currently are, it simply means they weren’t giving in their best yet, they were probably putting in their 70% or even 80%. Most of us are not able to extract even 100% from ourselves or from others, let alone this more than 100% rubbish.

Got a call from client. They had an opportunity come their way. It wasn’t part of the plan or what they do normally and weren’t sure if they should take it. Had the client send all the information they had and did some numbers. Looked at cashflow, capacity, resources, profitability, etc and it looked all good and within reason. The point is, just because something is not part of the original plan or outside what you normally do, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Opportunities are never part of any plan. If they come, grab them with both hands and run.

My drive to and from office I realise has a lot in common to people running businesses. As you drive minding your own car and course, you see all these other drivers swirling from lane to lane, trying to beat the red light, doing illegal U turns, overspeeding, driving where they are not meant to, etc. You wonder if you should start doing the same to gain some advantage over others and then you realise that everyone starts at a different location and ends at a different location and it’s not a race. Your journey is your journey. Same applies to businesses. You see businesses doing certain things to get…