Growth Instigators Hotline
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Growth Instigators Hotline
#453 A Dollar Bill. 293 possible ways.
A dollar doesn’t care how you make it—bill, quarters, dimes, or an odd handful of coins—and that simple truth cracks open a bigger idea: there are many right ways to reach the same outcome. We use that lens to examine how “one-right-way” thinking sneaks into teams, franchises, and personal workflows, and why it often slows the very growth we claim to want.
I share a candid look at my own kryptonite: an obsession with efficiency. Streamlined processes, zero ambiguity, and perfect consistency feel safe, especially in franchising where a stable guest experience is non-negotiable. But we unpack the hidden cost of treating process as sacred. The twist comes from the field, where a franchisee’s experiment—yes, a bold chicken sandwich topped with mac and cheese—turned into a standout seller. The lesson isn’t to throw out the playbook. It’s to write margins in the playbook where experiments can breathe.
Across the conversation, we map how to balance reliability with discovery. You’ll hear practical ways to create structured freedom: define your non-negotiables, run tight pilots, measure what matters, and scale only what proves out. We walk through simple prompts that expose rigid habits: Where am I stuck in my ways? Which step is tradition, not necessity? What are three alternative paths to the same result? By the end, the dollar becomes a metaphor for outcomes that matter and a reminder that value is not tied to a single route.
If you’re a builder, operator, or creative who wants dependable results without smothering innovation, this one’s for you. Listen, reflect, and then tell us: what lesson do you draw from a dollar? Subscribe, share with a teammate who needs a nudge toward experiments, and leave a review to help more people find the show.
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Welcome to message 453 of the Growth Instigators Hotline, where we examine an everyday normal object and assign it a deeper meaning. I'm Aaron Havens, your host and growth coach. What can a dollar bill remind us of today? A single coin can equal a dollar. A single bill, if it's a dollar bill, can equal a dollar. Four quarters is a dollar, two half dollar coins is a dollar, ten dimes is a dollar, twenty nickels is a dollar, and a hundred pennies. Rest in peace is a dollar. In fact, using just coins, there are two hundred and ninety-three possible ways to make a dollar out of coins. Math is a path, my friends. The everyday common way of paying a dollar in coins is just a few combinations of 293 possible ways. There are so many ways to accomplish the one dollar mark. Can you recognize and be reminded that your way is just one of many possible ways? Where are you stuck in your ways? Where do you think your way is the right way? Where in fact there are 292 other possible correct ways? Do you want to know a dark secret of mine? My kryptonite, if you would. I love efficient processes. I obsess with spending less calories, working smarter and not harder. That can be a good thing. When I was the director of franchise development for a QSR company called Chicken Cone, I found myself telling our current and potential franchisees that in franchising it is all about consistency. Zero room for ambiguity, zero, zero variance. Now, in many ways, that is correct. However, some of our best-selling menu items came from a franchisee experimenting with our food options. So my strength is truly a strength. However, it can also become a stagnating blind spot if I don't push into it a little bit. If as chicken cone, we said it's our way or the highway, period, the world would be the world wouldn't be blessed with a crazy yummy chicken sandwich with mac and cheese drizzled on the top. Oh, I'm hungry even as we talk about it. Where are you resisting change or stuck in your ways? That, my friends, is how a common, everyday object can instigate growth. I want to hear your thoughts. Let's attack this topic with some group thinking. What are your thoughts on lessons we can learn from a dollar bill?