Page 178 - Paulisms: Gold Nuggets for Small Business

at home unannounced and saying he couldn’t get a hold of us because we were not home. How dare he compromise our time waiting around for him when he didn’t ring. All he needed to do was ring and ask what a convenient time was. This is a great example of the ‘Curse of Assumption’.
It is also just as bad turning up early. When I have an appointment booked for someone to see me, I am head down getting things done before the person arrives. I am in that zone. If people turn up early it disrupts my programme: how dare they compromise my time. I had a complaint from a customer once about an installer turning up early. It is as much an inconvenience turning up early as turning up late.
Paulism: Don’t compromise other people’s time. How dare you. Create a habit of turning up on time.
7.4 Urgency without panic
In today’s business environment, if we don’t move with urgency and with pace, we are going to fail because someone else is going to take that business opportunity away from us. We have to do things with urgency – but it’s urgency without panic. We shouldn’t panic about doing things. This chapter should not be confused with the chapter on ‘Two bulls at the top of the hill’, which is more strategic. Urgency without panic is about the everyday mindset of the business.