Part 2: Stick to your guns

It’s a sentiment employed everywhere from dating to business decisions. There’s a feeling we all get when we make decisions to let us know if an outcome will leave us content or disappointed. It’s known as your gut instinct.

Part one of this series gave you the background story on a recent experience of ours. We tried to accommodate guidelines outlined by an external organization because we thought they could help us reach our goals for our own growth.

We started the application process which would conclude when the board decided if we were a fit. We modified our presentation many times with the help of the application team. We didn’t know if we were just not getting their message because we operated differently or if they were trying to wean out applicants through a lengthy process.

It should have been evident we were not the optimal candidate for this program but we were enthusiastic about it and tried to play by the rules. As you know, the work didn’t pay off as we had hoped. We were so excited about the possibilities of following through on an opportunity to develop our products faster that we blocked our gut instincts and worked and waited for an opportunity that wasn’t meant to be ours.

This process is the type of thing we try to avoid. Infomatix works with growth-oriented entrepreneurs because they are typically more interested in quick turn-around times and can get started on a project with little red tape for immediate returns. We focus on action instead of reacting to minutiae.

We use Simplify Your Business™ and The InviStructure Formula™ to determine the relationships that will complement our modus operandi and those that won’t. This tool is valuable when building relationships and we use it with everyone we work, partner, or engage with. It provides signals to whether or not we could develop a beneficial relationship with the person on the other side. We were going to go through this process with a member of the selection board but it never happened.

It took six months to complete the process. The face of our company changed a lot in that period. We hired a new staff member. We gained new clients. The company that began the application process was not the one that was turned down. Our goals had evolved and matured.

On one hand, our time could have been better spent working on alternative solutions instead of having all of our eggs in one basket. Trusting our gut instincts could have inspired us to bow out of the process instead of waiting for someone else to determine the outcome. On the other hand, we were reminded of the reasons why we follow our process so carefully.

Have you had an experience that validated why you do what you do? We’d love to hear about it in the comments section below.

Quote from Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink (2005), p.13