Whether you’re a professional player or hobbyist, musicians at all levels appreciate the magical feeling of ‘finding their groove’.
It’s that synchronous moment when the notes you play (action) and the dynamic you create (impact), marry with the energy you’re giving to the performance and the technique you’re using to make it all happen. It’s a beautiful thing…
…but what if we applied the same ambition in areas of our lives other than music?
Action, Impact, Energy, Technique
If we were to explore these four ingredients and overlay them onto our businesses and/or the work that we do, what might that look like?
Finding your ‘business groove’ is all about creating and delivering something that your audience (your customers) wants to dance along to. Something infectious, irresistible, that gets them out of their chairs and bopping along to whatever it is you are offering.
In this environment, we might apply the following four principles:
ACTION
What you do day-to-day to move your business forward.
IMPACT
The difference your actions make in terms of moving you closer to success (whatever ‘success’ means to you).
ENERGY
The effort you put into those actions (noting that energy, like time, is not infinite).
TECHNIQUE
The manner in which you achieve all of the above.
Finding Your Groove
I’ve been a drummer for almost 40 years (that’s one of my bands above) and a business leader for over 20 years. I can’t help noticing the similarities between drumming and growing your own business.
Stick (ahem) with the analogy as I explain:
ACTION
One of our biggest challenges in business is knowing what actions we should (and shouldn’t be taking). Our options are limitless (unlike our energy) so how do we know which actions align best with our business goal?
In drumming there are only 40 accepted basic riffs, beats or drum rudiments. These rudiments form the foundation of all Western drumming. Only 40. If you were to limit your actions to a choice of only the most valuable 40, what would they be and why (spoiler alert, when you include the unsexy but must-do actions such as accounting, legal compliance etc… you soon run out of options, so choose wisely!)
IMPACT
Every action generates impact. Is it the impact you desire? Is it a short, sharp, loud crack on the snare to capture attention? Is it a more dynamic build, a roll on the floor toms to create interest, tension, intrigue? Is it an ongoing, steady pulse to build familiarity, consensus, support?
As you have chosen your actions, so now you are niching into the area on the kit that will best serve the impact you wish to create. This is how you are going to be remembered (your personal brand perhaps?) Again, choose your instrument wisely.
Are you sat behind a massive kit with lots of drums and cymbals, each representing a different channel or platform through which you run your business? Or are you ‘one-up, one-down’, achieving all the feel you want from a limited but perfectly selected musical palette?
ENERGY
You want your business to be successful AND sustainable which means you’ll want to be able to play your groove for a long time. But your actions and their impact demand a physical (and emotional) toll. Is there a way to create that impact, tension, long term interest… get the people on the dancefloor, without you burning out before the second chorus? This question brings us to…
TECHNIQUE
Using less overall movement and a more relaxed grip of the sticks, you can actually take more action, create longer-lasting impact and still use less energy. The trick is to let the stick do more of the work. Utilise the rebound to sneak an extra beat out of the drum. Think Newton’s Third Law of Motion – “Every action creates an equal and opposite action” (I explain it in more detail in the video below)
Set the Tempo
As we look to the future, keep in the back of your head what you want to achieve with your business this year and whether your current ‘dance floor vibe’ is leading you in the right direction.
If there’s a change of tempo required, what does that look like? Do you need to focus on your actions, your impact, your energy levels or your technique, to make it happen?
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