The Magnifying Glass and the Sun

Creating Business Focus by Delegating to Experts

When I was a young boy, my grandfather passed on the age-old wisdom of the power of “The Magnifying Glass and the Sun”. That day I spent an hour trying to harness the sun and start a fire on a small piece of newspaper-and did not succeed.

What I have learned since then is that it takes both a steady hand and quite a bit of preserving to sit and wait until something catches fire (5-10 minutes actually). The interesting part was not that I spent an hour “working” on the fire, but that I did not spend 5-10 minutes working on the single task of not moving the magnifying glass.

In your business, its very easy to stay “busy” managing the details of your business, your team, and your customers.
What is interesting is how many business people spend 40+ hours working each week, but never achieving high levels of success. What makes the difference?

Focusing on what you do best-and delegating the rest!

Ask Yourself: What is my most important task?

The following example is a good way to answer this question.

• Imagine that you go to the doctor and get the following diagnosis: You are so ill, you can only work 4 hours a month. No extra phone calls or email-only 4 hours a month.
• What would you do with your 4 hours? What task would you focus on? Why?

Delegating:
Whether it be a CPA reviewing your taxes, a payroll department cutting checks, or a window washer keeping the front of the store sparkling-the power of proper delegation is undeniable.

By delegating tasks that someone else can do, you create space for you to focus on your most important tasks. Focusing on your primary tasks, you create revenue or value within your organization that offsets the cost of delegating your secondary tasks.

Focusing:
Once you determine your most important task-Set aside time to work without distractions. This may be blocking off time to file paperwork, or scheduling a meeting to discuss that important project with key team members. Don’t get sucked into staying busy! Redirect your focus to spend time “starting a fire” on your most important task. Remember-its easy to spend an hour working on many different tasks and not giving one task the focus required to “start a fire”.

For more info on how to start a fire with a real magnifying glass, see this article: http://www.wikihow.com/Create-Fire-With-a-Magnifying-Glass

Author: Josh Brammer
Josh Brammer is Operations Director at SpinWeb. His background includes media design, video production, strategic planning, and organizational productivity. In his spare time, Josh enjoys his family, good films, reading, throwing a frisbee, and quad espresso macchiatos. Contact Josh at josh@spinweb.net or 317-324-1100.

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