The grappling hook, Batman’s favorite trade tool, is a device that helps
its user pull himself forward. It’s a lethal looking tool, a sort of unsharpened
treble fish hook on steroids. Originally used by sailors (pirates) to hook and
snag the rigging of a ship nearby, it helped pull the two vessels closer.
Pull
vs. Push is the theme of this newsletter.
You spend a lot
of time in your business pushing for: increased sales, better productivity,
decreased expenses and better profits. Pushing works, sometimes. It’s been my
experience that pushing requires a tremendous amount of energy from me to make
it work well. You have probably had the same experience. I’ve learned that pulling
is easier than pushing. If you don’t believe me, try pushing a piece of chain
instead of pulling it.
Here is why I changed my attitude about pushing.
Farmer Bob once told me that it's a lot easier to pull a load
than it is to push it. He made the comment as he watched me push a very heavy
load on a cart. I was grunting and loosing traction.
Bob said, "Humans
are more efficient pulling than they are pushing."
He
was right. Pulling is easier than pushing.
This applies to people
as you inspire them to complete tasks requiring more mental work than physical
work. It is much easier to have a system that pulls work through to complete
the job rather than always trying to PUSH!
No
one likes to get pushed around. But, if you make it easier for them to
do it rather than not do it, you will get results.
Make
your systems pull for results. Systems that pull instead of push have these
characteristics: - Rewards at completion help create a pull for work to
flow.
- Are easy to use and inviting to attract users to follow them to
completion.
- Are simplified with easy to follow steps that can be done
in chunks and completed one at a time.
- Are designed to have time frames
for completion to avoid procrastination.
Are
you trying to push sales people to have better performance?
Are
you pushing your employees for more production at less cost?
The
better method for success is to heave your grappling hook and line at the problem
and get a good grip on it to pull yourself closer to it. Once you are hooked into
a problem, you will begin to construct a path to pull you to the solution.
