So last month was Groundhog Day; a national day observed each year in the US and Canada.
For a nice welcomed break during the winter, on this day the groundhog awakens from his nap and goes outside to see if he can see his shadow. It’s believed that if the groundhog sees his shadow that there will then be six more weeks of winter.
If this is so, he then retreats back into his den and goes back to sleep. If he is not able to see his shadow, the groundhog remains outside to play and people celebrate believing that spring is just around the corner.
Now, I don’t know about you, but some of us in the EC weren’t even aware there was even such a creature as the groundhog (just hedgehogs and Gruffalos, of course).
When I hear the phrase “Groundhog Day” I immediately recall the 1993 film (of that name) starring Bill Murray. But it’s also a phrase I hear time and time again from colleagues, clients, friends and family more often than not describing their working life, or life in general, as “Groundhog Day”.
It got me thinking how the celebrated groundhog, the film starring Bill Murray, and business are in fact all very, very similar. Let me explain more….
In the film ‘Groundhog Day’, Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, an arrogant weatherman who is reluctantly sent to cover a story about a weather forecasting groundhog (or rat as he calls it). This is his fourth year on the story, and he makes no effort to hide his frustration.
On awaking what should be the ‘following’ day he discovers that it’s Groundhog Day again, and again, and again. At first, he uses this to his advantage (who wouldn’t?!), but he soon comes to the realisation that he is doomed to spend the rest of eternity in the same place, seeing the same people do the same thing EVERY day.
After indulging in hedonism and committing suicide numerous times, he begins to re-examine his life and priorities.
Let’s trace the journey of how Phil feels during his time stuck in this reoccurring time loop, re-living the same day over and over again:
Feeling #1: Confused & Dazed.
At first Phil has no idea what’s going on.
Feeling #2: Recklessness.
After several days stuck in the time loop, Phil decides to take advantage of the situation with no fear of longterm consequences. He goes down a path of stealing, seduction and drunken behaviour, and eventually gets thrown in jail.
Feeling #3: Depression & despair.
Phil sinks into a state of depression, refusing to get out of bed and even trying to take his life.
Feeling #4: Self-improvement & development.
Realising his current tactics aren’t having any impact, he endeavours to improve himself. He begins to use his vast knowledge of the day’s events to help as many people as possible, and uses the time to learn.
Eventually, Phil is able to befriend almost everyone he meets during the day, using his experiences to save lives, help people, and ultimately to impress a lady called Rita.
He crafts a news report on the Groundhog Day celebration so eloquent that all the other stations turn their microphones to him. After the town’s evening dance, Rita “buys” Phil at the event’s bachelor auction.
Phil makes a snow sculpture of Rita’s face and they kiss, then retire to his room. He wakes the next morning and finds the time loop is broken; it is now February 3 and Rita is still with him.
They walk outside and Phil proposes that they move to Punxsutawney together. #happilyeverafter.
Is any of this sounding familiar? I’m not suggesting that we’ve all been on a trail of drunken debauchery and crime, but that feeling of being stuck in a rut does sound all too familiar.
We know how we feel, but we do not necessarily always know why. Our SCALE Philosophy has been designed to tell business owners WHY they feel the way they do; here’s how:
- Without a clear Set-up of Strategy, you won’t know where you’re going, you’ll feel lost, you’ll be creating a culture of confusion. We refer to this as the FOG.
- If you’re not congruent; you don’t have the right people in the right seats, no clear systems processes in place, no alignment, you’ll be worried and anxious. We know when clients are at this stage as they admit to SLEEPLESS NIGHTS.
- In our experience, you’ll have alarms and alerts going off in your business, but you don’t know why or what’s causing them until it’s too late. You’ll be in a panic, running around out of control. We call this stage HEADLESS CHICKENS.
- Even if you have the above in place, are you learning any lessons? If you’re not learning from your mistakes time and time again you’ll be getting frustrated, you’ll be losing confidence in yourself and your business, and you’ll inevitably feel a FAILIURE.
- And finally, without an Execution Plan to ultimately Exit you won’t even progress, you’ll start getting bored and disengaged from your business, and on track to completely fall out of love with it. This we refer to as STUCK IN A RUT.
You’re not alone. In business we’re always faced with new challenges, and we simply don’t know what the future holds. This quote from the film is indicative of many conversations I have with frustrated business owners:
Phil: What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?
Ralph: That about sums it up for me.
During researching all things Groundhog, I came across an article on how estimates regarding the length of time Murray’s character, Phil, is trapped in the time loop vary widely.
The Director stated in his DVD commentary that it was 10 years, then in a subsequent interview commented:
“I think the 10-year estimate is too short. It takes at least 10 years to get good at anything, and allotting for the down time and misguided years he spent, it had to be more like 30 or 40 years.”
Now, you and I know that it really doesn’t take 10 years to get good at anything! We may not have the luxury of a little furry Groundhog popping his head out to guide us, but we do all have access to systems, tools and advice to enable sustainable growth in a controlled and measured way.
If you’re starting to slip into that Groundhog feeling yourself, just remember this positive quote from Thomas Edison: “when you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.”
