What Would a Business Robot Do?

There is an old joke about a man who goes to his neighbor’s house to borrow a lawnmower. On the way, he thinks about all the reasons his neighbor might say no to his request, and gets angrier and angrier as he listens to the imaginary argument in his head. When he finally gets to his neighbor’s house, he rings the doorbell, waits for the neighbor to answer, and shouts, “Keep your d@#n lawnmower you ungrateful @#$%^&*!”

Supercoach: 10 Secrets to Transform Anyone’s Life by Michael Neill   “The world is what you think it is. Change the way you think and you will change the way you experience life,” says bestselling author and transformative coach Michael Neill, in his new book Supercoach: 10 Secrets To Transform Anyone’s Life. For more than twenty years, Michael Neill has been helping clients fulfill their dreams – whether they want to make more money, build their businesses, improve their relationships, or find greater contentment in their day-to-day lives. He shows them that meaningful transformation can be almost effortless. In Supercoach, Neill shares the advice that has worked so well for his clients, presenting ten coaching “secrets” that can be implemented at a reader’s own pace. Each secret, which is illustrated with case studies and anecdotes, is designed to be a catalyst – something that will spark a reader’s own insights about how he or she thinks, lives, and works. The book also includes specific actions that people can take to actually experience change and incorporate it into their lives. “The key to transformation,” explains Neill “is making changes from the inside out. When you learn to live your life from the inside out, stress disappears and worry becomes almost non-existent. You realize that you were born happy and the worst thing that can ever happen to you is a thought – a thought about whatever you think is the worst thing that could ever happen to you.”

Most of us become aware, at some point in our lives, of the price we pay for cutting ourselves off from our feelings. Like a river flowing against a dam, the more we resist feeling what we feel, the stronger those feelings can get. But what many people also fail to notice is how these repressed feelings and emotions get in the way of making sound business decisions.

Emma was struggling to keep her home-based business alive after about a year of very hard work and very limited profits. When she hired me to help her turn things around (or help her make peace with letting the business go), the first thing I did was introduce her to a thinking tool I use with many of my clients:

Imagine a robot who has been programmed with all the best business skills and business wisdom, but has no emotional circuitry whatsoever. No matter what is going on in your business, “Business Robot” will always make the decisions and take the actions that are most likely to lead to success both short and long-term.

Now imagine that Business Robot has been hired to run your company or take over your job for awhile – what would Business Robot do?

When I asked Emma, her first response was “he’d quit!” (Not sure why most people seem to make Business Robot a “boy-bot”, but they do!) After further questioning, she realized that in fact, the business was mostly on track – what had been troubling her was the pressure she’d been putting on herself to “make” it succeed more quickly.

A series of insights followed, including:

• Business Robot would institute a strict ABC priority policy and stick with it, not letting itself get caught up in other people’s sense of urgency
• Business Robot would work less hours, recognizing the value of focusing on work when at work and renewing energy and resources outside of working hours
• Business Robot would go through and do an 80/20 evaluation of which clients were bringing in the most money for the least effort and vice-versa – and then would use that information as a basis for prioritizing certain clients and “firing” others

Perhaps the biggest breakthrough Emma got from the exploration was when she realized that far from working harder or longer, Business Robot would hire an assistant to take care of the majority of the tasks she herself found so tiresome, leaving her free and energized to do the work that she loved and excelled at.

To put Business Robot to work in your own company, imagine that it has been brought in to run your company, take over your job, or manage your career:

• What would Business Robot do in the first week?
• What goals or targets would it set for the next month? Next quarter? Next year?
• What longer-term vision would Business Robot create for you business or career?
• Think of the biggest problem or sticking point you are facing in your work right now – what would Business Robot do in that situation?

The key to making this thought-experiment work for you is to realize that as Aristotle said, “a virtue is the mean between two vices”. Your goal is not to become more robotic – just to bring the wisdom of a mentally disciplined approach into balance with the feelings of your very human heart.

About the Author

Michael Neill is an internationally renowned transformative coach and the author of the new book, Supercoach: 10 Secrets to Transform Anyone’s Life. For the past 20 years, he has been a coach, adviser, mentor, and creative spark plug to celebrities, CEOs, royalty and people who want to get more out of their lives. He hosts a weekly talk show on HayHouseRadio.com, and his daily and weekly coaching columns can be read on his website www.geniuscatalyst.com.

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