Having Your Phil

February 2nd, at approximately 7:30 a.m. local time on Gobbler's Knob in a small town in western Pennsylvania, 20,000 people and a national radio and television audience anxiously await the prognostication of America's favorite furry forecaster. In a tradition dating back 119 years, Punxsutawney Phil emerges from hibernation?and if he sees his shadow, it's back into the burrow for six more weeks of cold weather.

The celebration of Groundhog Day in America and Canada has its roots in the ancient Roman Feast of Lights and the early Christian tradition of Candlemas Day. However, it took a giant leap in popularity - as did Punxsutawney Phil and the entire town - with the 1993 release of the popular Bill Murray-Andie McDowell movie.

In the film, Murray plays a cynical weatherman - appropriately named Phil - sent to cover Groundhog Day for the fourth straight year. Having made no effort to hide his frustration during the newscast, he goes to bed the night of February 2nd only to awake at 6:00 a.m. the next morning and discover it is Groundhog Day again?and again?and again.

Are you struggling to achieve your goals and grow your small business? Albert Einstein said, insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." To truly make a leap, you have to commit to doing some things differently.

Success Handler Action: With your team, look at your small business from the "10,000-foot level," identifying areas where issues continually arise. Think about the reasons you keep encountering the same obstacles. Here are some questions to help you get started:

~ What are the things you do best?

~ Where are your biggest and most frequent frustrations?

~ Why are there differences between these results?

~ When was the last time you successfully changed something, and how did you do it?

~ Who are your team members most adept at taking action on new initiatives?

The next step is to determine which areas you want to focus on changing first. Prioritize your challenges by order of highest potential impact on your small business. Then consider possible options for fixing each one. Ask those you trust for their recommendations, and talk to other business owners about how they handle these same issues. The more input you receive, the more likely you'll reach the right conclusions.

Success Handler Action: The best way to improve those situations that are keeping you on a circular treadmill of frustration is to begin addressing your challenges one at a time, taking a proactive approach to change things. Here are five steps for implementing solutions in your small business:

1. Select the option you think is most appropriate for overcoming a specific challenge.

2. Communicate the upcoming change to everyone affected by it.

3. Train key team members, then document in writing the new processes/procedures.

4. Measure the effectiveness of your solution, tweaking wherever necessary.

5. Recognize and celebrate with your team all positive improvements.

Harold Ramis, the director of "Groundhog Day," envisioned Murray's character awakening over and over again for 10 years before finally freeing himself by learning to treat people differently. While that amount of time may have allowed Phil to learn a poem in French, create an ice sculpture and expertly play the piano, it nearly drove him crazy in the process.

Before overloading on your fill of doing the same things and getting the same results - over and over - start changing your approach in a few essential areas. You may just find that tomorrow arrives bright, sunny and with the beginning of six weeks of incredible progress for your small business.

Copyright © 2005 by Success Handler, LLC. All rights reserved.

The Coach, David Handler, is the founder of Success Handler, (http://www.successhandler.com), and specializes in helping small business leaders, franchisees and franchisors find clarity and take action. He understands the challenges of running a business, because he's been there ? as a small business owner, franchisee, franchisor, corporate leader and trainer. Much like sports coaches, his coaching will show you how to compete on a level playing field in your industry.

---

Problem-Solving Success Tip: Define the Problem First

Define the Problem First. It seems obvious, but how many... Read More

So, You Want to be in Management? Five Essential Factors that Will Determine Your Chances

The following information is based upon over 500 interviews with... Read More

10 Steps Towards A Stress-Free Introduction Into Management

Becoming a manager for the first time can be an... Read More

Improving Your Inter-Company Communications At No Cost

It's all very well having a flashy (and expensive) advertising... Read More

Stop Waste, Fraud and Abuse

Each year, businesses write-off six percent of revenue to waste,... Read More

Align The Enterprise & Make Beautiful Music Together

Q: Why is a great business like a great marching... Read More

Introducing the 15 Frameworks of Successful Self-Employed Professionals

A framework is a way of thinking, a point-of-view, a... Read More

Got A Meeting Planned? Ask This Question

Meetings ? they are a fact of our business lives.... Read More

Build Your Business (On A Shoestring): Hire a College Intern

Starting up a new venture or business can be one... Read More

How To Use W Edwards Deming

Human beings and the way they interact are extraordinarily Complex.... Read More

Ten Business Reasons Why Asking for Help Works

In fact, bringing your people - any of them -... Read More

Making Meetings Work

We have all attended meetings that were boring, mindless and... Read More

Top 7 Methods to Empower Employees

How many times have you asked someone to do something... Read More

CEOs Role in Family Business

I first met Roland (not his real name) in 1972.... Read More

How to Create Trust

People buy from you, offer help, and grant rewards based... Read More

What One Thing?

A few weeks ago I asked my readers what the... Read More

Performance Appraisals: Nightmares or Sweet Dreams

Some managers think of performance appraisal meetings and recollections of... Read More

ISO 9001 and Total Quality Management

Total Quality ManagementTotal Quality Management, or TQM, has become one... Read More

Delegating Responsibility

Too many managers waste both time and energy performing tasks... Read More

The Power of ?Ask?

For Call Center managers, it is not a pipe dream... Read More

Employee Turnover: Is It Eating Up Your Profits?

Keeping the cost of doing business down, yet providing a... Read More

Challenge of ERP Implementation: Q and A with Rick Maurer

Question: ERPs seem like a good idea, so why is... Read More

Small Business Outsourcing: An Introduction

Outsourcing is the delegation of a business process to an... Read More

Are You Using the Right Form of Energy?

As we near the end of summer, here is a... Read More

Objects in the Mirror are Further Than They Appear

Definition From http://www.merriamwebster.com -- "Virtual: - being such in essence... Read More

Innovation Management ? Emotion, Habit, and Culture can be Hard to Change!

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Managing Performance: Don?t Let Slackers Bring Down Your ?A? Players

As a manager, it is your job to ensure that... Read More

3 Tests To Hire The Best

Question: What's the easiest, cheapest and quickest way to have... Read More

Recycling, Reverse Logistics and?..Candy

The candy box is a container for all your favourite... Read More

Entitlement Programs Kill Productivity

In articles I've written over the years, I have used... Read More

Innovation Management ? Good Leadership

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

How to do SWOT Analysis for your Business

SWOT analysis is needed for all business to understand how... Read More

The ?Better Product? fallacy

Another fallacy ingrained in the minds of most marketing managers... Read More