Ep 445 | Ideas are Cheap; Execution is Priceless

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. As you saw in today's title, today's podcast title, ideas are cheap but execution is priceless. See, over the years, I've had the opportunity to coach and consult with hundreds, if not thousands, of entrepreneurs. And I've really gotten to see, in my opinion, the difference between those that I would consider are pretty good in what they do as entrepreneurs and business owners and leaders, and those that are actually great in what they do. They're great entrepreneurs, great leaders. Great business owners. Notice different differences between those two groups. There's one difference though that stands out to me above all else. It's just based on my experience in coaching and consulting with so many. See, the biggest difference that I found between the good entrepreneurs and the great ones, it's not in the brilliance of their ideas. It's not in the brilliance of the strategies they have or the people they align themselves with. While all these things are of course important, It's not that. What I found is that the greatest entrepreneurs that I've had the opportunity to work with, they execute. It's not the brilliance of their ideas, it's their ability to execute. When I think about the greatest entrepreneurs I've worked with, these are the individuals that I will have a call with and we will strategize around, say, a new service that they want to roll out to their customer base, or a new approach they want to take to, to, to marketing, or the type of person that they want to immediately attract into their business or make a hire, or a hire that they need, a role they need to create more leverage such that they can go do more revenue-generating activity. There's all these different ideas that I've seen The great ones though, after we talk about these things, immediately get into action. Right away move into action. The good ones I work with, they still think about it. And maybe they eventually get into action, but oftentimes they don't. And 2 weeks later, we're still in the same spot. And 2 weeks after that, we're still in the same spot. And 2 weeks after that, we're now strategizing in a different— we're coming up with different— a different idea or a different strategy. The best that I've worked with take a strategy, define the tactics, and get into action immediately. It is the biggest difference between the good and the great, at least in my world. This topic, I believe this topic is critical for entrepreneurs because execution separates the great from the good. And there's a lot of common traps that prevent people, I I think, from taking action. And I think there's some actionable tips to ensure you move from the strategy component to the results. We want to get from strategy to results. So let's talk about execution versus strategy. Okay, a perfect plan without action is a daydream. A perfect plan without action is a daydream. Even a flawed plan that's executed well can yield results and at the very minimum could yield valuable lessons. We've talked here at No Days Off about bullets before cannonballs. And a lot of what I'm saying here is that, that same concept, bullets before cannonballs. Those that are great, great entrepreneurs, great business leaders, they have a strategy and they immediately begin to shoot bullets in an effort to get into motion and test and iterate. And they shoot bullet, shoot bullet, and then the second they figure out, you know, the exact play, they shoot that cannonball. But the key here is that they're shooting. See, a perfect plan, again, without any action is just a daydream, but a flawed plan that has action, that's executed, can yield results, and at a very minimum, we're gonna learn. So we have to be swift in execution. We've gotta launch that MVP, that minimum viable product, quickly. We've gotta act on market opportunities. See, speed, speed is critical, especially in today's environment. Now there's lots of reasons why I think people don't execute. There's some barriers here. The first one that I see more than most is just simply overplanning. See, some entrepreneurs suffer from that paralysis by analysis thing you may have heard about before. They spend weeks or even months perfecting their strategy, but they never act. I think overplanning is a massive barrier, which is why I really go back to the bullets, the cannonballs, like just start firing. Now, be calculated and don't overextend yourself, but get in the motion. Don't overplan. Number 2, the number 2 common barrier I see to execution is just simply fear of failure. I think fear stops so many of us from starting. Remember, failure isn't the opposite of success. It's actually a step towards it. So, get into action, don't overplan, and and recognize that we, you know, we all have a degree of fear, but fear, don't let fear stop you from starting. 'Cause worst case you fail, but you take one more step towards success. Another common barrier to execution that I see is lack of prioritization. In other words, too many priorities can lead to a lot of scattered energy. I think the great entrepreneurs that I work with, they immediately focus on what moves the needle. They're clear on what they're saying yes to and what they have to say no to in order to get into action. The last thing that I see in my coaching and consulting with so many entrepreneurs as a barrier to execution is perfectionism. I think that being perfect sometimes is the enemy of just getting things done. I think the great entrepreneurs that I have the opportunity to work with know that shipping a product or getting the service, rolling something out, getting the service out there is better than waiting for perfection. Now, that may be hard for some to accept that you're going to have anything less than perfect. But again, perfect is the enemy of done. We're talking about getting into execution. Again, execution being the biggest difference between those that I believe are great versus those that I've seen that are good. Now, the great executors that I know, they have some common characteristics I want to, I want to talk around. Because if this is you, great, this is going to confirm some of the things you're doing. And if it's not you, that's great as well. Maybe you have to start developing these characteristics of yourself. Number 1, when I look across the great entrepreneurs that I'm working with that are great at executing, there's a bias for action. I find that great entrepreneurs start even when they don't have all the answers. They just kind of learn as they go. And in the spirit of learning as you go, the second characteristic that I think exists for the great entrepreneurs I'm working with is they're adaptable, their adaptability. See, execution isn't just about sticking to the plan. It's about adjusting when reality strikes. When reality diverges from your expectations, you've got to be able to adapt. Right? That's what the best business plans have, right? They have a— naturally, they have a plan, and there's tactics, and you're getting the motion, but they're adaptable. They have the ability to pivot. That's a characteristic of a great executor. Lastly, in terms of shared characteristics of those that I think I work with that are truly great versus those that I've seen that are good, those that are great have relentless follow-through. They are consistent, and that consistency that they have will trump the intensity of others every day of the week. Great entrepreneurs, they finish what they start. They truly finish what they start. So if you want to get into action, if you want to improve your ability to execute, I think there's a couple things to think around as we're wrapping up. Number 1, start small. Right? Break the big goals down into bite-sized actions. Just focus on the next step. What Nick Saban would say, what's important now? WIN. What's important now? I don't need to figure out the whole staircase. Let's just get on the next step. So, start small. Set deadlines. Deadlines create urgency. We need to create urgency. Without deadlines, actions may tend to drift. So, set deadlines. Build accountability. Share those goals with someone who's going to hold you accountable. If you want to be a better executor, learn from feedback. Execute, assess results, and iterate. Execute, assess results, iterate. Learn from that feedback. Every action is a chance to learn. It's a chance to improve. And then lastly, if you want another tip into improving execution, prioritize daily. At the start of every day, identify the single most important action that you have to take to move the business forward. So actionable tips to improve execution: start small, set deadlines, build accountability, learn from feedback, and prioritize. Prioritize daily. So in conclusion, it's the great entrepreneurs that I've seen versus the good. The great entrepreneurs They don't just dream, they do. And execution, in my opinion, is just the bridge between ideas and results. It's what the greatest do. So, for you today, I want you to ask yourself, what's the one thing that you've been talking about but you haven't acted on? What's the one thing you've been talking about but you haven't acted on? The challenge for you today, starting— start with right now. Whatever it is you've been talking about but not acting on, start today. That's all I have for you today, the No Days Off podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.