The Borg may not have had refined social skills when it came to communicating, but they were on to something when they said: “Resistance is Futile”
In business, resistance can either be a hindrance or an asset. For the vast majority, resistance is futile because it paralyses them into submission and prevents from doing what needs to be done to succeed. It is much easier to not resist and become “Assimilated” into “The Collective” workforce. They become drones and simply take the easy way out.
For others, resistance is a powerful force for good. In his book “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield, he states: “Are you paralyzed with fear? That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.”
When it comes to running a business, we often have resistance on a daily basis. Learning to identify and fight resistance can be the difference between a run of the mill company and a highly successful one. How many times have you faced a challenge or task that was quite hard? How easy it is to attack the much easier and mundane tasks of the day instead of attacking the elephant in the room. There is a self-imposed resistance that stops us from doing the obvious, and instead we focus on something that has no resistance.
How to do we fight against the Borg-like resistance? One humorous suggestion was to upload Microsoft Windows to the Borg Cube, which would begin consuming system resources at an unstoppable rate. If detected, it would offer an “upgrade” which increases resource use exponentially with each iteration. But seriously, how do we fight against resistance in our daily routine?
Identify what you need to do to move the business forward and take at least one step forward each day. I personally use the Five Minute Journal from Alex Ikonn and my buddy UJ Ramdas. Part of the daily exercise is to identify 3 items you want to accomplish each and every day. There is something about giving some undivided thought as to what you need to do that day and writing down those goals on paper. Resistance will try to fill your day with other activities, but fight back!
5 Minute Journal
The experiment is simple. Find a large jar, 3 rocks and sand. Fill the jar with your three rocks, then pour the sand over the rocks and it will all fit in that jar. Now try the reverse, put the sand in first and try to fit the 3 rocks afterwards. What happens? It no longer fits. The lesson is that once you accomplish the big tasks, you will be amazed that all other tasks will still get done. They will fit in your day and you have moved your company forward. It feels amazing.
Another interesting tool is the Pomodoro Technique. Use a timer and focus on a task (one of your 3 rocks) for 25 minutes. Take a 5-minute break…and do it again. This is focused work, no interruptions, no external disruption (emails, text messages, etc.). It’s amazing how rewarding it is after the exercise to know you took on a resistance task. If you accomplish nothing else that day, you will have at least done one thing to advance your company forward.
Pomodoro
What are the things that bring you resistance?
What do you find the hardest to do in your business?
What are you putting off doing?
Resistance if not futile! Identify what brings resistance and fight back, success is within reach!
About Randal Wark:
Randal Wark is a Professional Speaker and Founder of IT Revolution – Yoda for IT Companies.