Embracing ‘The Best’ at Innovator
At Innovator, our vision for the next 3 years and on to the next 10 years is to be the best at everything we do. The thing is, in order for that to happen, each and every one of us needs to become the best in our individual roles.
Declare that you’re going to be the best in the world at a thing. It doesn’t matter what the thing is. That’s up to you to decide.
But once you declare it, it radically simplifies your life. All other options are off the table.
You know where you are in the world; it’s very clear to you. If your declaration is “I’m going to be the best GM in the world” or “I’m going to be the best sales or marketing person in the world” or “I’m going to be the best execution manager or technician,” it makes things really simple.
It’s clear when you’re not the best. And you know the work you have to do. You know where to go. Keep in mind that once you make this declaration, 99 percent of the time you’ll be off course. You’ll only be perfectly on course 1 percent of the time.
That sounds outrageous, right? But it’s true.
You’re distracted here or you’ve got a vacation there, a family emergency over here, an unexpected deadline—life, in other words. So it helps if you think of yourself as a plane leaving Los Angeles for Maui.
Course Correct
What happens on a long flight like that? The pilots take the plane through take off and get up to cruising altitude. Then they put the plane on automatic pilot, then they eat their lunch and talk with passengers and do whatever else they do, and the autopilot is guiding that jet all the way to Maui.
It’s actually off the course for almost the entire time, but it keeps correcting itself, and eventually, it lands exactly where it’s supposed to be.
Think of yourself like that jet. Your job is not to beat yourself up, not to be ashamed of failing to keep your word and your declaration. Your job is to right the ship.
To right your ship you need to know your key performance indicators and your process to follow. Those are your autopilot buttons.
Sometimes that correction will be day to day, sometimes hour to hour, and some days it’s minute to minute.
By using the phrase “The Best”, you know when you are off course. It is just a matter of checking in and then making adjustments to get yourself back on course. That action you are taking right now—is it in line with your plan to be the best?
Yes? Great. Carry on. No? Course correct now.
Whenever you’re ready, here are a few ways we can help:
