In every business there is one thing that is the most important. And I mean THE most important. Yes there is ONE function within your business that can be pinned down as the greatest determinant of the company’s success. That may sound impossible, but let me take you on a mission to show you that it isn’t.
I may not be Tom Cruise, but I will safely take you through the process of determining your business’ “one thing.” In his book ClockWork, Mike Michalowicz terms this as the “Queen Bee Role.” He goes on to describe the importance of the role that a queen bee plays in a hive. She is responsible for laying new eggs, which I’d say is pretty important because without new eggs the whole hive would cease to exist.
*Notice that it is the role that the queen plays, not the queen herself. If the queen stopped producing eggs then the hive immediately gets to work on spawning a new queen so that the hive can keep going.
Your one thing will be a role, function, or task – it is never a person or machine. And it does not have to be something that you or your team spends the most time on. Time and level of importance do not directly correlate here. The goal of declaring your “one thing” or “QBR” is to radically improve your business and your quality of life.
Now you might be saying, “Amanda, if it’s that important stop lollygagging and tell me how to figure it out already!” To which I would reply, “Don’t yell at me, but ok I will 😊”
To determine your one thing you must work your way toward it through deductive reasoning.
STEP 
: Gather your team. Or at least the managers and departmental leaders if your team is quite large. And have each person bring a pen and a sticky note pad. If you are flying solo then just gather yourself (in every way possibly implied).
STEP 
: Have each employee, including yourself, write down the six most important things you do in your job. Each person will write theirs separately with one thing per sticky note. What are the six things that matter most in a week or a month? Examples might be “sales,” “marketing,” “invoicing,” “project management,” etc.
STEP 
: Each person then lines their notes in front of them and confirms that these represent the six most important things they do for the company.
STEP 
: Now it gets challenging – but the kind that’s fun, like mini-golf (do I need to be embarrassed that mini-golf is challenging for me?). Pretend as though you and no one else in the company are permitted to complete two of those things ever again. They completely disappear from the business forever. Remove those two notes and everyone should be left with 4 notes. And since 4 is not 1, then remove another sticky note. Continue this process until you have one note left per person. And then put those together and continue the process until you have one note left all together!
*Yes this is possible. I’ve done it for my business. I’ve walked other businesses through it. Rest assured, magic will happen.
STEP 
: Stand up tall, put a hand one hip hip and the other pointing into the air, and declare for all to hear your company’s one thing!! The most important role, function, or task for your company! This is so exciting. Now you know what all of your efforts, time, and focus should either serve or protect. You have solid direction, my friend.
STEP: Adjust your systems and processes to ensure that your one thing is always protected and served by yourself and everyone on the team. If you need any help figuring out what that looks like then schedule a free consultation at https://bit.ly/ignite-business.
