Business people count things. It is what we do! If you are like me, you often find yourself counting various processes or results in your business and your life. Of course, once you count whatever it is, you must then compare that count with something or someone else to determine if you are doing a good job or not. It is in our nature to do this and most of us do it quite often. However, there is a problem with doing this.
Results Are Critical
Now, before you even think about taking this to the extreme, please relax! I am not going to tell you to stop counting and measuring activities or results in your business. A significant part of being successful in business is establishing processes and goals and then measuring your progress to those goals.
I am not going to tell you there is anything inherently wrong with measuring results. That is not my point at all.
Watching Results Can Be Trouble
My point is really to shed light on some of the potential dangers of watching these results. While there is nothing wrong with the idea of measuring results, there are some pitfalls that you need to keep in mind. Once I go through the short list of these pitfalls, I think you will understand what I am saying and agree.
1. When you’re checking the results, you’re not watching what you’re doing!
- Take driving for example. Imagine you are driving on the interstate, but you are too focused on your dashboard computer as it tells you your rolling average fuel economy. Obviously, this behavior can have fatal consequences! In this case, it would be fine for you to check your mileage every time you fill up the tank or stop for food.
We can do the same thing in our businesses. When we establish goals in a certain area, we need to measure and track the results on a regular basis. However, if we are constantly watching these results, we may miss something important! We need to set specific intervals for checking our results and resist the temptation to look more often.
2. You may find yourself well ahead of the goal and relax.
- One of my favorite scenes in the movie Facing The Giants was the death crawl scene (watch here).In this scene, the coach challenged one of the football players to crawl on all fours with another player riding on his back. The challenge was to get from the end zone to the fifty yard line. The catch was that the player was to do it blind-folded so he could not see his progress.
Evidently the fifty-yard challenge was a stretch because the player thought he could never make it. The other players looked cynical as well. The result? The player, by giving his absolute best and ignoring the progress, ended up in the far end zone – a full 100 yards away! It was an amazing scene – proof that ignoring the progress and pressing on can produce greater-than-expected results!
The blindfold was the key. If we can “blindfold” our teams every once in a while and challenge them to give their best without checking the results, I think we all would be surprised at what could be accomplished!
3. You may begin to believe that you are the reason for the results.
- Take a look at King David in 1 Chronicles 21. At the prompting of Satan, King David decided he wanted a census of the fighting men of Israel and Judah. The commander of the army, Joab, questioned David. He argued that God could multiply the size of the army to whatever number He needed – why the need to count? But David persisted and the census was taken.
As a result, God punished Israel. Evidently David was beginning to feel some pride in his position and wanted to boast of the strength of the army. Rather than giving sole credit to God for the increase and the might of the army, David appeared to be looking for some credit of his own.
If we allow ourselves to get too caught up in “counting” in our businesses or lives, pride is likely to creep in and separate us from dependence on God. Not all counting falls into this category, but you do need to be aware of the danger!
4. Your timeframe may be off.
- A watched pot never boils. Sometimes God gives us a picture of something He wants us to strive toward. Sometimes He does this without showing us WHEN that picture will come to fruition. If we continually watch the progress towards that picture, counting the results before the right time, we may be tempted to give up or get frustrated.
God gave Joseph a clear picture, actually two, of his brothers bowing down to him. The problem was that God did not tell him when it would happen! As you can read in Genesis 37-45, it took over 20 years for the dream to come true. During the interim, Joseph was sold into slavery, accused of attempted rape, and confined to prison for many years.
We can assume there were times when Joseph questioned God about the timing, but he remained faithful to trust God. Rather than constantly checking our results against the picture God has given us, we need to follow Joseph’s example!
Trust God
See, sometimes we can spend too much time checking our results. We can also check these results too often and at the wrong intervals. When we get to the point where we are too focused on watching our results, or the progress to these results, a lot of problems can arise. Instead, let’s learn to work our hardest and then put our trust in God and His faithfulness. The right results will come in His time.
Do you fall into this trap at times?
How do you get out of it? How do you avoid it the next time?
Do you see other pitfalls I have left out?
