Simply get going:
how to act faster as a business owner

Many business owners know exactly what they ought to be doing: working on strategy, developing the team in a targeted way, preparing important decisions, improving structures. And yet much of it is left undone in everyday business. Emails, operational issues and the proverbial “day-to-day business” keep getting in the way.

This article is not about more motivation or rallying slogans. It is about how you, as an owner or executive in small and medium-sized companies – and in large corporations too – can create conditions in which you and those around you actually get moving. Pragmatically, humanely and without ignoring reality.

1. Create clarity: what really matters?

“We really ought to …” is one of the most common phrases in meetings. Behind it there is often a genuine understanding of what would be necessary. What is missing is clarity. As long as a topic remains vague, it is easy to postpone it.

Ask yourself – or your leadership team – a few simple questions:

• What are the three most important topics that we really need to move forward in the next 6–12 months?
• How would we know in a year’s time that we had been successful on these topics?
• What risks arise if we keep putting these topics off?

This step alone brings order. Instead of ten supposedly equally important points, you have a short, clear list of priorities. And only on this basis can you really make decisions – for example, about what you will no longer do.

2. From wish to decision

Many initiatives remain stuck in the form of a wish: “We should optimise our processes”, “We ought to sharpen our offering”, “We should invest more in leadership”. Statements like these sound reasonable, but they are not binding.

A simple but effective step: turn wishes into decisions. In concrete terms, this means:

• We will sharpen our offering for target group X.
• We will simplify our meeting structure and set it up afresh.
• We will clarify the leadership responsibilities in the team within the next three months.

A decision always involves a “yes to something” and a “no to something else”. Only then does a good idea become a project that can actually be implemented.

What this looks like in practice. At GE Money in Germany in 2002, a sentence was on the table that every bank knows: defaults have to come down without slowing sales. That was a wish, not a mandate. Things only started moving once we translated it into a single measurable figure – the share of customers who do not even pay the first instalment – and poured the work into a fixed sequence: define, measure, analyse, improve, control. In the end, the process quality of this ratio rose from 3.1 to 3.5 sigma, with around 3,000 loan contracts falling due each month. The solution was subsequently adopted across Europe. The lever was not more analysis, but the moment when “we should” became “we will, measured by this figure”. The full story is in the case study Reducing defaults without slowing sales.

3. Small, concrete steps instead of grand plans

In many companies, extensive concepts are drawn up that play hardly any role in everyday business. They disappear into folders or onto servers – and are perhaps brought out again at the next strategy off-site. What this shelving actually costs is described in the article on the most expensive pile of paper in the company.

In my experience, it is far more effective to translate big topics into small, clearly defined steps. For example:

• Instead of: “We are realigning our sales strategy.”
  Better: “Over the next four weeks, we will identify our 20 most important existing customers and arrange conversations to understand their current needs.”
• Instead of: “We need to improve internal communication.”
  Better: “Over the next eight weeks, we will test a new, short weekly meeting with a clear structure and review what works.”

The key questions are:

• What is the next sensible step?
• Who takes responsibility?
• By when should this step be completed?

If you answer these three questions consistently, the likelihood that things start moving rises considerably – not least in more complex structures such as large corporations.

4. Rituals and structures that support execution

Change rarely happens “on the side”. It needs time slots and structures. Otherwise operational pressure prevails again and again. Many companies underestimate how helpful simple routines can be.

A few examples:

• A weekly focus meeting (30–45 minutes) with the clear question: “Which three steps will move us forward on our key topics this week?”
• A monthly review: What have we implemented, what is blocking us, what are we learning from it?
• Clear responsibilities: Every important topic has a named person who drives it – even if several people are involved.

Rituals like these work in mid-sized companies as well as in large corporations – what matters is that they are adhered to consistently and not abandoned at the first sign of pressure. If your company is growing at the same time, roles, decision paths and communication come into play as well – five decisions you should make early in growth phases.

5. Bringing people along – instead of just handing out tasks

“Simply getting going” does not mean bypassing people or steamrollering them. On the contrary: the more far-reaching the changes, the more important it is to bring those involved along.

Questions I ask again and again in projects:

• Who is particularly affected by this change – professionally and emotionally?
• Who are possible supporters, and who might have reservations?
• What information do people need in order to take the next step with us?

Large corporations in particular show that good concepts often fail not because of the idea but because of a lack of involvement. It is similar in mid-sized companies – except that the paths are shorter and the effects are felt more directly.

6. Use external sparring

Many business owners and executives are surprisingly alone with their issues. Within their own company, there is often no one with whom they can talk on equal terms about doubts, uncertainties or open questions. This is precisely where an external sparring partner can help – a counterpart who does not share in the decision, but thinks it through with you.

My role in such situations is to listen, ask questions, bring order – and help turn thoughts into concrete steps. Sometimes it is a one-off conversation, sometimes support over several months or an interim role.

7. From reading to doing

Perhaps you have recognised yourself in some of the situations described. Perhaps you have felt for some time that certain topics are “due” – but everyday business keeps getting in the way.

If you wish, use this article as an occasion to take a first small step:

• Write down the three most important topics that you want to move forward in the next 6–12 months.
• For each topic, formulate a clear decision instead of a vague wish.
• For each topic, define the next concrete step – with a person responsible and a date.

Whether your initiatives get stuck at the start or during execution is shown by the Project check in four minutes – 20 statements, no registration.