It’s an appalling breakdown in communication. 

So let's talk about communication. Again. 

If you are a leader and tell someone on your team to do something that doesn't get done, it's probably your fault and one of three scenarios.

Okay. First scenario. 

Remember LIFO FILO inventory management acronyms from accounting class? (Last in First Out, First In Last Out) Think soup cans on a grocery shelf, where it's typically FILO. The cans are stacked from back to front, and people grab them from the front. So the cans in the back are the oldest ones.

Unfortunately, LIFO not FILO, is how many teams operate – your team takes the last thing you ask them to do as the priority.

A lot of the work I do is protecting the entrepreneur's team from the entrepreneur's mind, which, as we all know, adores shiny objects and the thrill of a brilliant idea. 

So if your team etched out three weeks for a strategic project or three months of strategic projects, then you, the founder, goes to some conference and finds this great new software or conjure up a fantastic new idea on the trip home, and they come back and say, "Okay team, let's do this thing." 

Now, you might mean "I want it now" or "when it fits into priorities," but many teams only hear, "The boss wants this, so let's get on it," pushing other projects aside and missing deadlines because of it. It creates stress for everybody. 

The second scenario is a respect issue, which is much harder to tackle. In these situations, we often will find the leader communicates in a way that makes them seem unstable or authoritarian.

If you are not allowing for two-way communication, there is no communication. And remember, there's a subtle but salient difference between telling somebody what to do versus how to do it. When you tell somebody how to do something, it can be patronizing and breeds a sense of distrust and disrespect. It's terrible for productivity and leads to the kind of hostility that produces" quiet quitting."

It's critical to focus on consistency and a process for handing over ideas because It's our jobs as leaders to relieve pressure, not create it. 

The third scenario is a team who are more than willing but not adequately resourced. 

The founder is asking them to do things, they want to do it, but they cannot get to it. The leader is not creating an environment where team members feel free to say, "I don't have what I need to get this done. "I'm trying to finish this project by tomorrow. If I work on this other thing, I will not be able to get to that." 

The Replaceable Founder system of Optimize, Automate, Outsource is built on effective communication; nothing worthwhile gets accomplished without it. 

Productivity Riffs. Want more real-world solutions to scaling your business efficiently? Just join The Less Doing Labs. It's a private group chat that gives you access to me for $12 a month or a hundred dollars for the year. If you're interested, watch this super-fast video for more info.

This month's coolest reads and finds

Ooni Fyra 12 Wood Pellet Pizza Oven

Keep-simple - A way groovy website providing over 100 different cognitive biases in product development. 

McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2022

This Map Lets You Plug in Your Address to See How It's Changed Over the Past 750 Million Years | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine

Project Shasta - Holy crap a studio-quality collaborative audio platform.

Switchboard - And speaking of collaboration. Everything. I mean everything integrates with this platform.

The Adoption of Innovation - No one puts innovation in a corner

The 50 Greatest Sneaker Collaborations in Nike History | GQ

TinyWow - You know how you say, "I wonder if I can….” Yup, you can. Right here.

Are you on TikTok?

Check out my new series, "Businesses Behaving Badly" - where I analyze your experiences with businesses that could be doing a whole lot better, in a whole lot of ways.

It's like "Bar Rescue" for Entrepreneurs.

Give me a follow @arimeisel. Then send me your encounters. I'll call them out and give my take on how they could improve. (or if).

Make it an effective day.

P.S. Whenever you are ready...here are 3 ways I can help you grow your business:

1. Join my FREE Facebook Group - The Replaceable Founder
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