Many years ago I was talking with a client who owned a very successful bond trading business. He was talking about how fast bond deals were processed. He said, “In Italy, it can take as long as 30 days. In France it would take several days. London can turn a deal within 24 hours, but in the United States the average turnaround time is about an hour.” I asked him why it is only an hour in the US. He said, “Because in this country we want what we want fast and we want it now.“So true.
Our “do it now” work ethic is something we can be proud of. It is also a characteristic that can hurt us. Some things can’t be done quickly…like building a winning team.
Strong teams are built by being “brilliant on the basics”. Just like learning a musical instrument, it is a long process that involves practicing scales relentlessly. Many people quit playing because they are impatient. They want to play all their favorite songs in a week. It just doesn’t work that way. A company can hire a training organization to give a crash course in teamwork, and in just a few days, the team is so pumped up they are ready to take on the world. They they get back to their office and find a stack of work that has piled up. They scramble to catch up, and before long, they are back to their old routine.
In order for any of us to grow, we need to change habits and behavior. That takes time, and it is not comfortable. After all, if it was comfortable, we would already be doing it! Each one of us has a habit we could build that would help us. We probably know what that habit is. Why not get started on it and stay with it until it is part of our comfort zone? Remember, it will take more than an hour.
