Most dentists got into this for the lifestyle; the freedom, the autonomy, the life only ownership can buy. Most of them aren't living it. The practice that was supposed to set them free runs them instead.
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We get into the real mechanics - associates and partnership, incentives and equity, standards, and the difficult conversations most owners avoid. No scripts, no hacks. Source code, not tactics, because your problem set is defined by the capabilities of the people you lead, and an entrepreneur's number one job is to stay relevant.
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Nothing changes until we do. Annoying, but true.
So I built myself a filter. Two rules, deployed at the exact moment I'd rather be furious.
They cost me nothing, they take no time, and they've reliably produced better outcomes at a lower price - for me, my businesses, and the poor humans who've had to work for me over the years.
They only stop working when I stop using them.
If you're looking for more of my philosophical, geopolitical, or macroeconomic content, visit my other podcast, The Sovereign Guide.
One of the most disappointing discoveries of my entrepreneurial journey was the one thing that kept showing up inside of all of my problems when I was trying to deal with people. This thing showed up every single scenario. Every time, it was always there engaged, and at some point completely and connected to these negative outcomes, poor behavior, frustration, disappointment. And you might have noticed the same thing. It's you. It's me. This is one of the most annoying discoveries of mine many, many years ago. The only thing that all my problems had in common was this guy. And it occurred to me that I could probably use a system upgrade of my own. Realizing, of course, as we all have many times, nothing changes until we do. Nothing shows up differently until we do. No outcomes alter until we do, and on and on. And so I started thinking about what I can do to create a filter to improve the version of me that shows up at times when I really need it to be effective. I need it to be more effective And what emerged, and who knows, I may well have been influenced, as everything that I'm sharing with you is influenced in some way by either my own experience, lessons I've learnt, overheard, or had beaten into me over the years. This may well model, uh, along your own rules or those of others. But for now, I'll just share with you my two rules. The rules that were designed to create better outcomes at a lower cost to me, my businesses, my wellbeing, and as maybe even more importantly, those of these poor humans that have worked for me all these years. Rule number one, assume the best. Assume the best. Assume the best of anybody on the other side of the exchange. The subtext here is nobody wants to do a bad job. And I know-- I realize that's gonna be hard to believe on some days because you are convinced that this particular person, they wake up at night scheming against my wellbeing. They are out to get me, to destroy my profitability, to make my life miserable. Assume the best. Nobody wants to do a bad job. Nobody wants to do a bad job. Rule number two, assume that any errors are errors of understanding. Any errors are simply errors of understanding. Why would we do this? We would do this if we are oriented toward efficacy over righteousness. You know those people in your life. You have been one. Maybe you still are. I certainly have been one, and I can be from time to time, where I am so focused on being right instead of effective. The second rule forces me to focus on actual improvement, the actual change that is hiding behind the disconnect in their understanding and my own If we discover a mistake of an employee's or a family member's, a child, a kid, your spouse, assume the best. They don't want to make your life miserable. And this second jump to rule number two is the error of understanding we are compelled immediately to ask ourself, "Okay, what could be missing? Where is the misunderstanding between us? What was it that I was expecting that they didn't know? What was it that I was assuming they understood or were capable of or interested in or committed to that they were, in fact, not? What is the misunderstanding in my read of their incentives and theirs?" one of the things we'll speak a lot more about is what happens when we spot real capabilities in people that they're just not following through on. I know that sounds like a regular Tuesday for you. What is it about these people that are so capable but they just aren't doing it? There's a misunderstanding. And I wanna suggest that out of the gates, the greatest likelihood of a misunderstanding is in the incentive system around those capabilities. It is only when we seek to understand the gap of expectations and abilities and outcomes that we are oriented toward progress. Again, to not do this is to seek righteousness. To force yourself to ask the question, what is the misunderstanding here? Immediately, a more proactive, benevolent, understanding, compassionate version of you shows up If this is hard for you, you are so welcome. You are so welcome. This is hard for me sometimes Because I can be just as frustrated as anybody else, and in that frustration, I assume the worst. They don't really care. Fill in the blank. You've seen it. Those same people, those friends of yours that you get together to commiserate with. "Well, you know, the generation these days, you can't get the kids to work." I don't know, et cetera, et cetera. You know, I'm just assuming the worst. And not just that, we're projecting it out not just beyond, not just to this employee, but beyond into the future with everyone else of their generation Overlooking the fact that words are spells, and those spells are cast to justify our staying exactly where we are instead of in a different place that we claim we really care about and are working towards. You're assuming the worst. You're looking for a reason to stay where you're at and keep them where they're at. If you wanna assume the best, everything changes. If you can spot the gap in your understanding and theirs, you've got something to fix. Going back to the previous episode, you would have spotted what was missing. Maybe you would have spotted that nothing was missing, and in fact, they had chosen outcome X. They had chosen not to follow the process. Still valuable because we're getting to the source of this pain, this frustration, this breakdown that's gonna turn out to be more expensive in the future if we don't deal with it now. This is why we do it. It forces the best version of you, the most proactive version of you to show up every time you use it. The only occasion that these two rules do not help me is when I don't follow them. These two simple things have and will continue to create beautiful outcomes for me, and I want that for you too. Next time you're all twisted up in a knot, ask yourself if you're assuming the best. Are you really? Nobody has to know. You can sit with the privacy of your own thoughts, take complete responsibility for the energy you're bringing to this exchange, and then you get to ask yourself, "Do I really want to be right or do I want to be effective?" Because if I want to be effective, my very next job is to spot the misunderstanding. Deploy only if you're oriented toward more peace and better results, only if you want to be seen by your team as the benevolent, powerful human that you are that cares as much about their experience as you do their results Make it happen. Cheers
Speaker 2
That's it for this episode. Thanks for being here. Hey, there's only two things that you have in your life, your time and your attention. That you've given both to me for these few minutes of today means
