How do you put up with him?

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By Paul Jowsey
Published on 12/09/2008 08:08AM

Being a small business owner is to be a unique self intoxicated orphan. Communications are vibrant but nobody really knows us. And business never just holds up for a while, so we can organise the ten year plan and perhaps sell out or something. It has it’s own spirit, the perfect storm. So we need help. Staff arrive from a myriad of circumstance but always bring duplicate behaviour. The first quarter they’re at it like Steve Irwin and by six months the boosters are in the Pacific. Roll round a year and the vertical learning curve is more like sand dunes and the small business orphan can more or less say whatever and get an echo. Pay more get less. Set goals, echo. Fix a problem, sort of. It’s only now in paper 3 of our Switzer journey that we learn the tools automatically ambush the entire crew. We have the batfish axe, the ferret slime, the melon hammer and now Mr Pencil. Mr Pencil is a dull nerd and requires more than bling to hang out with. He comes with a weekly task list & daily planner. He’s always sharp. He is lean, ugly and has no friends. Once you have mustered the courage to get a bit of lead happening you are able to cleverly command your wishes down your arm out your fingers and onto the paper. Then you just point, 9.30 key staff meeting, task list, daily planner, “Oh look, we didn’t finish this yesterday” … point, smiling calmly, “We’ll write it down again for today”.
Who’s ya daddy now?