Why being stuck in a bubble destroys the ability to succeed

It will affect your growth, progress and relationships

Before addressing why being stuck in a bubble destroys the ability to succeed, here’s what being in a bubble looks like:

• You’re struggling to get your team to hit their goals.
• Decision making is slow and gritty.
• You’re disconnected from your stakeholders and market – and they’re complaining about it or worse, you.
• Strategic projects have stalled – everyone’s doing the ‘busy work’ instead of the important work.
• Growth has slowed or is in reverse.
• Relationships and engagement are poor – think about your recent engagement survey results to get a bead on this.
• You don’t meet or check in with your key stakeholders regularly ie. weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
• Stakeholder relationships are strained. And that’s really not good for anyone.
• There is an over-reliance on data for insights.
• Hint: CEO’s hate this with a passion. They need the insights you get from actually talking to people and gaining perspective and traction, combined with the data.
• Team culture is fractured, or worse, toxic and everyone’s checked out.
• The business is underperforming.
• Productivity has slumped.
• Innovation is non-existent.
• Deals and new business opportunities have dried up.
• Business development is hard work and lead generation is sluggish.
• You don’t have a good enough network.
• You’re off the patch ie. not in the right environment to connect with people, learn, bump into people etc. This is happening a lot at the moment. Think WFH too often and simply not having the face-to-face meetings you need to make things happen.

You get the drift. It’s a long list.

It’s not pretty.

But if you’ve been with me for a while, you’ll know I’m here to help.

If you’re new: Welcome.

Let’s get into this together – one bubble burst already!

Remember this one thing: Relationships are the lifeblood of business. They generate every single thing you need for success and growth.

Being in a bubble will put walls around you and inhibit your relationship development, diminishing your ability to deliver successful outcomes. It’s more common than you think.

Getting out of your bubble might be scary at first. I totally get it. We’ve worked with hundreds of teams to help them break out of these silos.

Here’s how we go about this.

The first step is always the hardest, but thereafter it’s incredibly rewarding and your stakeholders, customers, businesses leaders and family will thank you.

Here’s what it looks like when you and your team get out of your bubble:

–            You learn about your market and gain insights

–            You build relationships

–            You make better decisions

–            You build trust

–            You think differently – critically, creatively and innovatively

–            You’ll form strategic partnerships

BHP created Boston Ventures, to help drive sustainable growth today and provide a portfolio of new growth options for the decades ahead. It’s a dedicated venture capital unit with a purpose to seek game-changing technologies and emerging companies. Pretty cool, right?

The best bit about this is it was fun and rewarding and the team learned a huge amount along the way.

Over the last 18 months at Harmonic Advisory we’ve formed a number of strategic partnerships to support our growth. These are with complimentary businesses and subject matter experts. You can’t do this if you operate in a bubble.

Here’s how you can make a start on getting out of your bubble. I promise it won’t hurt a bit and you’ll see results within minutes. I kid you not.

1. Get your foundation right – do a quick update of your profile – see our Profile Optimisation Checklist for the 3 minute update – contact me for the pdf.
2. Have a crack at your elevator pitch so you have some confidence about what to say (if your stakeholders are internal, you can skip this for now) – contact me for the PitchKit.
3. Schedule a meeting with your key stakeholders ASAP, a phone call is the best way to do this, but I understand email might be less scary. Just ask for some time to do a check in. No-one ever says no to this.
4. Contact a work friend in a different industry and book in a coffee or a lunch. Spend that time asking them questions about their work, what’s happening, what’s changing, what’s interesting and what’s challenging them.
5. Better yet, attend an industry event with them. There are hundreds of events happening across the country at the moment. Get out there and check them out!
6. Reach out and connect (or follow) interesting or inspiring people on LinkedIn. Connecting can be your first meeting. Remember: always do this with a personal message. It’s good manners.

Keep at it and if it’s too hard to get your team moving, just reach out to me. We’re quite good at this 😊

For me, staying out of the bubble consists of a relentless pursuit of curiosity, knowledge and connection.

I love my business and know the only way to create a sustainable and interesting business is to keep my head up, keep learning and adding value.

Aside from being energised by this, the biggest benefit is the value we provide to our clients by having a different perspective and the skills to bring about momentum and outcomes for their businesses.

Imagine achieving that in your workplace too.

So tell me, what are you going to do today – or right now – to get out of your bubble?

Nina