Holiday lessons

When you are on holiday it is a chance to recharge your batteries and engage in some thinking which isn't clouded by the demands of day-to-day business.

Interestingly, my holidays generally involve some lessons which have application to running my business. Last year, you might recall, that almost drowning in a kayak (okay, slight exaggeration there) brought out a determination to complete a goal - the memory of which assisted me a couple of times when issues needed to be bested to achieve a goal I had set. This year instead of one there are two:

1. The quickest route to your goal isn't often the best

Mrs Bell, much to my cost, enjoys walks generally scheduled at the same time I like to have my hand on a green bottle containing amber liquid. This holiday was no exception when five minutes after arriving at our destination we were "encouraged" to explore the environs. Green bottle safe in the fridge, we went out to see a lakeside jetty.

On our return we encountered a choice. A direct route back to the road which crossed what appeared (but had not been confirmed) as swamp and a longer route already travelled by Mrs Bell and the kids - they had had quite enough of my protestations and allowed me to find a different way.

So faced with a choice I said: "That way is quicker, I will see you chumps back at the road". Mrs Bell went all "consultant" on me and stated in no uncertain terms that they way they had travelled was the more certain.

To cut a long story short I set off and was soon shin-deep in dark, smelly, wet goop listening to laughter from those that looked on. The moral to this story is that a shorter road to your goal is not necessarily the best and ignoring the advice of others with prior experience is a recipe for getting stuck in the mud.

2. Incentives work

While swimming, Miss Bell was experimenting with her boogie board. She was trying to stand up on it and the movement of the waves was knocking her down. She was about to give up. I offered her a modest financial incentive if she could stand unassisted on it for more than five seconds. Given that her previous best was 0.67 seconds, I felt that it was a safe investment.

Well, the change in her determination was palpable as the intensity of her concentration and determination skyrocketed. Suddenly my wallet started shaking. The moral here is that incentives, couched in the right way, will delivery improved performance from your staff and team - its a human condition that we use from a young age.

Zenith Solutions is a Wanganui-based management consulting practice. It specialises in providing strategic planning, business process improvement and financial management services. Contact russell@zenith-solutions.co.nz or phone 021 244 2421.