Last week I introduced some ideas about my opinion concerning the real source of innovation in the self storage industry.
I don’t think it is all the new, shiny, tech solutions to running the business.
I think it is the mindset, the thinking we use to approach how we run every aspect of our business.
How we think is the source of innovation.
I introduced the first two of four ideas, approaches to a way of thinking that allows for real innovation at the level of our business and operations.
The first two can be read and/or watched here.
Review
Last week we discussed :
- Hear New Voices, and
- Ask new Questions.
Rather than try to be intellectual or merely philosophical about the concepts introduced, I attempted to discuss real examples of how we are using these concepts in our business today.
Given the reality of how the world is now, especially how the self storage industry is, the old ways of getting in and running a self storage business in many areas not applicable anymore, in my opinion.
As I write this, it is February 2021. In almost every facility we own at the moment, especially in our lease-up ones, we have had record move-ins this month’s so far.
February is typically the slowest month of the year. It is short, cold, and usually not a lot of activity compared to the rest of the year.
Yes, in many ways, the old laws don’t apply anymore.
Innovation, which may have been considered a luxury for most of us, is now required to stay relevant in the industry today.
Let’s build on what we started last week and complete this conversation.
Allow me to introduce the last two ideas or concepts I see people who I respect and would want to be like (at least in a business sense) seem to use to re-inventing themselves. Or, said another way, approach innovation.
People like Tony Robbins, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, for example.
Here are the traits I see they have talked about in one way or another, but mostly demonstrated in their lives and their enterprises that have put them at a different level than the rest of us.
My goal is to take these mindsets, these ways of being, and create access points to use to start using use them in our self storage business so true innovation to occur at every level of our enterprise.
- Less Is More
This may seem contradictory, given I have said that every level of the way we do business is changing.
Perhaps it is. But as we implement, or better said, take a new idea from thought into the real world, less is more.
The Morass
If you have been involved in any business, quickly in operations, the day-to-day activities can totally consume someone.
There is a natural law in the universe that allows the operations of any business to expand exponentially until it hits the maximum number of hours, plus a few more that an owner or team can devote to it in a day.
Just the stuff of running a business.
This leaves little time for working on the business because we are so busy working in the business.
I call this the Morass.
It is like quicksand you get stuck in as you run your creation. The vast majority of one’s time, energy, resources, and bandwidth are used up in the morass.
Often as we put structures in place to assist us, and this just adds to the morass. More people and structures to manage. More meeting. More calls. More decisions. More direction and leadership.
The morass gets bigger.
Then, we introduce something new, revolutionary, and new idea. A real innovation that will make a difference in the company.
It could be value pricing, tenant insurance, making tenant insurance mandatory, touchless move in, online move-ins, etc.
Then…the morass sucks it up, and it disappears into it.
At any given moment, the people in charge of implementing and executing the new exciting innovations are busy dealing with all the stuff in the morass.
Introduce a bunch of new ideas, no matter how good the ideas, or even how much buy-in they have with partners and team members. If you don’t consider the morass, many of these ideas will die an unceremonious death.
You may be experiencing this as you try to get into the self storage business. You are excited ready to go, but the stuff of your daily life sucks up all your bandwidth, and what is left over for the business of getting in self storge is less and less.
The morass.
In my humble opinion, you cannot fight the morass. It is just there. Accept it. It is just part of reality.
The way to innovate is to accept the morass of running a business and realize that we need to introduce the new ways of running our business items one or two at a time.
Less is more.
Look at Apple. Go into an Apple store. They have computers and not many different ones at that. Now they have phones, iPads, and watches.
That’s it as far as Apple’s physical products seem to go.
But each physical item has altered an entire industry or, in some cases, created one.
Less is more.
Many other vendors have created products to support computers, phones, iPads, and watches, so there is plenty to buy in an Apple Store.
But, Apple just focusses on a few key items.
And these items were introduced slowly…one at a time.
Now they are getting into TV (basically a streaming website).
Less is more.
So, the real skillset someone like Steve Jobs had, or in my opinion, Elon Musk has, is to find the next one thing that will have the most impact and put 100% of their energy and resources into executing that one thing.
Soon, the new idea will become part of the morass. But, if the launch was done right, there will be new structures in place to have the new idea operate daily and expand within the morass.
Then, take on the next thing that will make the most impact.
So, the real skill for us as business owners is deciding on the next one best thing to implement.
This is no small feat. This is challenging because there are so many new things that will make a big difference. And aren’t we people who by nature, take on a lot?
Isn’t our success, or how we think about our success, based on our ability to “do” a lot?
Just remember, at the level of a business, there is the quicksand of the morass, and the implementing innovative ideas…less is more.
- Create A Compelling Future Around New Innovations
The last thing I have noticed is that innovative leaders have the ability to create a compelling future that inspires and excites stakeholders.
The only way for the morass to not suck up the new idea before it becomes part of the business is to have everyone excited and inspired to make it part of the culture.
That requires a real skill on the part of the business owner.
The ability to create in the team members’ minds, a future compelling enough to have them change what they do and how they approach their day-to-day way of running their corner of the business (the morass) is no feat.
In my opinion, the ability to create a vision of a new future, then have that vision be so compelling, people change what they do, and in some cases, even how they think about something, is the mark of a great leader.
I wrote an entire episode on this before Called Leaders Inspire.
I have missed the mark on this many times. I, or our team of owners, will come up with a great idea, one we know will have a big impact.
We turn it over to the people who have to implement it.
In our minds, our work is done.
Then…nothing.
When I remember it or look at a monthly report and see no evidence the new strategy has any traction, I get mad and wonder why they would just drop it.
It’s never “their” fault.
I create the fact it is never their fault so I can have power. If it is my responsibility, then I can change the outcome.
I did not:
- Keep it alive where I am.
- Always have a structure for keeping the new innovative future you are creating alive and present for yourself. Have it inspire you.
- If possible, see and for extra points, feel what the new future makes possible for you and the enterprise.
- Create structures in place that keep the vision of what the new innovation makes possible for the team members who are responsible for implementing it and the company.
- Key Performance Indicators ( KPI’s) that are measured regularly. IN other words, a vision, a game, and a scoreboard.
- We typically bonus based on outcomes we are trying to impact.
Good leaders inspire others to fulfill visions.
It is amazing, but I truly believe that people want to contribute and make a positive impact where they work.
Most employees, however, never get the opportunity to experience that. I think it is not their fault, but the fault of the business owner or enterprise if that is not the case.
Conclusion
As we enter 2021 and beyond, innovation in the self storage industry is now a requirement for staying relevant, profitable, and alive.
Innovation does not stand a chance within a company if it does not have its source in the thinking of the owner or owners.
Be that type of self storage owner. That is what this time calls for.
