We Still Get Somewhere. But Not Where We Could Be.

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I don’t think we’re specific enough.

About what we really want, I mean.

That future state.

The outcome we’re chasing.

It tends to live as a fuzzy idea that we read on someone’s website or nod to on a sales call.

Something like: “more money, less stress.”

Or “grow the business without burning out.”

Vague.

And vague results cost more than we think (but we’re usually too polite to count).

So we, as owners (and buyers of solutions), march forward anyway.

We hire help.

We fix what feels urgent.

We chase whatever is loudest or most fashionable at the moment.

And you know what? We get somewhere. We always do.

But not where we could have gone.

Because while we were busy moving, we just weren’t clear enough about where we were going.

We didn’t get specific enough.

We put actually knowing what we want way down on the priority list (and below what we think is wrong today).

And that doesn’t make any friggin’ sense.

Here’s the other half of it. As service providers (sellers of solutions), we’re no better.

We meet clients where they are.

We default to solve what’s right in front of us.

We don’t dig deep enough.

Is this even the most important problem?

Is it the right one to solve now?

We deliver the fix the client thinks they need, without checking whether it actually moves them closer to their ideal future.

Because we’re experts.

Experts in that problem and that solution.

But despite being business owners ourselves, we rarely think of their business as a whole.

We stay zoomed in, hammering at the thing we’re paid to fix.

We forget to ask: what happens next?

What are the second-order effects?

The third?

So both sides walk away satisfied enough.

But not as satisfied as they could have been.

The buyer gets a future state, but not the best one they could have achieved.

The provider gets to solve a problem, but not the one that really mattered.

We mistake activity for alignment.

And we move like we’ve drunk 6 shots of whiskey. Confident but wobbling. And not nearly as charming as we think.

What would happen if we changed that?

What if buyers got painfully specific about where they really want to go?

What if providers slowed down long enough to actually diagnose and sequence the problems instead of lunging at the nearest one?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

Enough that I’ve decided to bring back my audit, what I used to call Flashlight in the Dark.

But even more rigorous this time.

Not just a checklist of what’s broken.

A clear picture of what matters now, what can wait, and what’s not worth fixing at all.

Because you will get somewhere.

But you deserve to get somewhere better.

Be well.

— Peter

A longer than normal P.S.

The older I get, the more I realize business (and life) is just economics. A series of trade-offs.

We sacrifice one thing to get another.

Choosing to build a business means we sacrifice the safety of a salary (for the autonomy and upside).

Sometimes that sacrifice is our health (choosing work over working out). And even time with our families today (to secure tomorrow).

I’m not judging. I make these tradeoffs too.

But too often, all that sacrifice goes into building something we don’t even understand.

We’re moving, but not really progressing.

It’s time to get clear on where your business is, where it’s headed, and the one problem worth solving next.

If you’re ready, start here.