Dealing with mediocrity

Zachary Aldwin Milkshake in the boardroom
My doctor or general practitioner is my first choice when it comes to most of my health needs for a number of reasons.
She is part of a clinic that has other doctors available to cover if she is not there. She is not heavy handed with medication, and is knowledgeable about some of the more natural remedies available.
She is also great at handling sniffles, chest infections, stomach ailments and nasty bugs that make the periodic attempt to invade my life.

If I break my leg however I will not go to her although I am pretty sure that if I do so in case of an emergency she could put on a cast.
The bottom line is that she is just not the best person to deal with such a case especially if it requires surgery.

The ‘General’ in her title stands for a broad spectrum. A broken leg requires a specialist to repair. A large number of doctors in the country are general practitioners.

The same can be said in business. Due to the economic challenges that we went through more than a decade ago many people found ways of supplementing their incomes by engaging in various projects.

In their quest to generate extra income some people have become ‘Jake of all trades’ , they accept any job or contract regardless of whether they have capacity or not.

Companies have also not been spared as some have expanded beyond their core business in an attempt to generate more revenue.
We now have a bad case of ‘generalities’ where most people’s time and resources are fragmented in multiple ventures and ideas that scream for attention, resulting in a lot of mediocrity.

We take the idea of value added service, the concept of adding a ‘Plus-one’ to what we do, and misinterpret it to think that by offering more we are offering a better service.

You cannot offer more unless what you already offer is being done with excellence. You cannot start to offer early-bird options if you cannot open on time during regular working hours.

Many of us have lost focus, our focus as companies and who we are as a people. You cannot be everything to everyone at the same time.
If you are going to be a high end store then be a high end store in all respects, stop playing the low-end market and stocking mediocre products on your shelves.

If you really want to offer low-end merchandise then either rebrand totally, or open a separate shop. Chasing two opposing markets is just going to confuse you.

There was a wonderful little coffee shop in town that used to make some of the best coffee around and pretty decent meals to go with it.
Then they decided to serve alcohol as well. Pretty soon they became a bar and beer drinkers will go there after work for a drink.

Sadly they crowded out the coffee drinkers who decided to leave. They left because they did not want to go to a bar to get coffee, they did not want drunken patrons disturbing their peace. As Seth Godin pointed out this week ‘we confuse variety and range with quality’.

Now is the season to redefine what you are as a business and who you are as a person. Look at where things have spun out of control.
See where the monster has grown an unnecessary tentacle and lop it off. Prune, trim, cut and refocus. Be smart about it though.

Do not shoot yourself in the foot at the same time. This is not something to do on a whim. It is a process that requires thought, creativity and some serious thought.

Nor is it a process that can be done overnight. It may take you a number of months to bring everything under control again.
Be clear. That is step number one, be clear about what you do. More importantly be clear about what you do not do (it may help to have a list of people who do the things you do not want to do so you can refer clients that require their services to them).

Be clear about the level of service you offer, the type of service you offer, the clients you want to work with. Be very aware that by serving a particular type of client you may drive others away and that might not necessarily be a bad thing.

More importantly be very clear about what you care about. If you care about something it becomes a passion.
It becomes easy to devote time and attention to it. It also becomes the reason for doing what you do. Be careful not to constrict yourself through the choices that you make.

‘We are a coffee shop’ may limit your ability to serve alcohol, ‘we offer a well rounded dining experience’ may be the better choice if you want alcohol on your menu. There is nothing wrong with either as long as it brings the focus and clarity that you want.

Finally, look to add value to what you do. Value may come by offering just one extra thing done to the best of your ability.
Value may be in the one superlative that you chase down and nail. ‘We offer the fastest delivery’ or ‘we offer cheapest prices’.

Trying to offer the ‘cheapest prices with the fastest delivery’ may be too much to deal with at first. Refine, refocus, cut back, and offer value to what you care about. Have a great week.

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