Focus remains one of the biggest challenges for a business owner. Finding tools that can help us get focused on the right things at the right time offers invaluable help as we navigate the dynamic twists and turns our businesses take.
A simple concept, the Three Gates of Focus, offers business owners a tool that can help them clarify issues, uncover the root cause of those issues and provide solutions that better address the problem.
Where there is confusion about the cause, there is confusion about the solution.
All issues can be put under one of these three gates of focus:
The People Gate
The Process Gate
The Profit Gate
The ability of a CEO to narrow their focus when dealing with the myriad of problems and challenges they face daily provides clarity and can lead to better decisions.
For instance, a lack of sales could quickly be laid in the lap of the sales team. By being willing to ask the question: Is this a People Issue, a Process Issue or a Profit Issue and generate discussion with key employees, a leader will more likely find the root cause of the problem and find a longer term solution.
By further asking, in the case of a lackluster pipeline: Is this a resource issue — have we put enough financial resources into this area; Is this a training issue — have we provided exceptional training opportunities; Is this a problem with work flow — do we have proof that the process works, a better idea of how to solve the problem pops up quicker and with greater clarity.
Every single problem, issue or concern that a company faces can be put into one of the Three Gates of Focus. And just starting from the beginning to ignite the focus of a team on the right Gate can save time, money and headaches.
Here’s what it means to Focus on the People Gate
You are focused on building competency, staff satisfaction, performance and innovation through the conscious development of people. Areas of focus include, but aren’t limited to:
Effective hiring practices
On-going and consistent training
Competitive benefits
High voltage
Development of a vision and core values
Performance indicators
Intentional decision making
What it means to Focus on The Process Gate
You are focused on transforming complexity into clarity through systems. Examples of those systems include:
Sales systems
Marketing systems
Financial systems
Customer service systems
Operational systems
People management systems
Risk management systems
What it means to Focus on the Profit/Revenue Gate
A company is focused on predicting growth by maximizing and anticipating profit/revenue protection and capacity issues. Examples include but aren’t limited to:
Sales capacity
Facilities capacity
Fulfillment capacity
Production capacity
Product development capacity
There is an advantage in explaining to your company what each Gate of Focus represents. There is an advantage in using the language of growth to identify issues under one of these three gates. The ability to uncover the root cause of a problem leads to quicker resolution of those problems. And a company with fewer problems will always keep that company ahead of the competition.
