“…8, 9, 10! Ready or not! Here I come!”
– Surely you don’t need me to attribute this one, right?
When our eldest was in the hide-and-seek stage, she would routinely yell, “NO! Not yet, Daddy! I no ready!” She wouldn’t say “I’m not ready,” it was a very adamant “I no ready!”
What a business lesson that can be!
Too much of what we do in business these days is based on speed. Too often, we simply insert “go” where “no” might be the more prudent approach.
Said differently, there’s value in knowing when “we no ready!” as long as it doesn’t become paralyzing. General Patton’s admonishment (“a good plan ruthlessly executed today is better than a perfect plan two weeks from now…”) is a solid counter-balance here.
If we have a good plan, we’re ready. Maybe not completely ready, just ready. And unless we’re at least just ready, there’s value in saying, “NO! We no ready!” until we are.
To paraphrase Dad, and as I quoted last week in this post, there’s no reason to use action as a default for getting ready.
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