Life In The Fast Lane
I've started enough businesses now that I've noticed a pattern emerging. My businesses follow my pace. This means, if I want my business to be moving qu...
I've started enough businesses now that I've noticed a pattern emerging. My businesses follow my pace. This means, if I want my business to be moving quickly I have to be at my best. Not stuck in the slow lane, holding up traffic. I am far from perfect and at times I end up there.
The problem is this: it's hard to figure out which lane you should be in and it's easy to drift out of your lane.
Know Your Lane
What's The Big Idea?
I'll give you a personal example: I'm a big idea guy. Vision is my strength. But when I sit down to talk about new ideas with my team, I often start getting into the weeds of HOW to make it happen, rather than what we're after and why.
But operations, implementation, project management...that's all a very weak area for me. When I pull the conversation in that direction, when I try to manage it, I'm drifting into my slowest lane. And that's very bad for business.
It's a hard lesson to learn, but one I've taken to heart. I'm the ideas guy. I'm the big picture guy. I'm the where, when and why guy. I am NOT the how guy.
So I've built a team I trust. They are strong in the areas where I am weak.
And, perhaps most importantly, I've empowered them to challenge me when they see me in the wrong lane...or when they see me eyeing it. That's the same principle behind why I trust my team to push back when I'm wrong instead of just agreeing with me -- an agency, or a leader, that only hears yes is already losing.
When You Need to Get Your Hands Dirty
It's Trench Warfare
That doesn't mean I have to stay totally out of the trenches. When we add a new service offering at Ad Zombies, like we're doing with Custom Product Photography right now, I am often the crash test dummy. So I take on the first projects, I do the work. The team waits to see how it goes, what I do, and what the result looks like. THEN they help engineer how we build infrastructure and operations to scale fulfillment.
And yes, I learned this the hard way a few times. I've engineered processes that are so convoluted and over-complicated that they confused the team more than they helped. They slowed everyone down. They sent my team on the wrong path. That's why the most common question in leadership and planning meetings with my team is: "What are you trying to accomplish here?" It's the same question I ask when a headline isn't pulling its weight -- if you can't say what the headline is supposed to do before you write it, you're already in the wrong lane.
Finding Your Flow
So how do you know what your lane is? How do you know when you're in it?
It's effortless. Not the knowing, that takes practice, but the feeling of being there. It's flow. It's like that moment when you're running where you break through and just find your stride (assuming that exists...I've heard of it, anyway).
When you're in the wrong lane, it's like you're trying to sprint through standing water. There's a lot of resistance. I feel it every time I try to run client calls myself instead of trusting the people who actually know how to build trust with a client over time -- that's their lane, not mine.
Take a good look at your days, your team, your patterns. What's your fast lane? How can you stay there? And, how can you build or shape a team that supports your strengths and your weaknesses?
Frequently Asked Questions
Ken has noticed through starting multiple businesses that if he wants his business moving quickly, he has to be operating at his best—staying in his fast lane. When he drifts into areas where he's weak (like operations or project management), he slows down the entire business. It's a pattern he's seen emerge across all his ventures.
Ken identifies as a big idea and vision guy—strong with the where, when, and why. But operations, implementation, and project management are his weakest areas. When he tries to manage the 'how' in team conversations, he's drifting into his slowest lane, which is very bad for business.
Ken still gets in the trenches when Ad Zombies adds new service offerings. He acts as the 'crash test dummy,' taking on the first projects himself so the team can see what he does and what the result looks like—THEN they engineer the infrastructure to scale it. He learned this after creating over-complicated processes that confused and slowed down his team.
According to Ken, when you're in your fast lane, it feels effortless—like flow, or finding your stride when running. When you're in the wrong lane, it feels like trying to sprint through standing water with lots of resistance. The knowing takes practice, but the feeling is distinct.
Ken has built a team he trusts who are strong where he's weak. Most importantly, he's empowered them to challenge him when they see him drifting into the wrong lane—or even when they see him eyeing it. Their most common question in meetings is 'What are you trying to accomplish here?' to keep him focused on vision rather than getting into the weeds.
