Two Is One…
There is one phrase that can fundamentally change the way your business operates. It will make things run smoother when your business is struggling, and it will make things easier when your business is insanely busy:
“Two is one and one is none.”
This phrase is quite popular in military circles but doesn’t seem to have caught on just yet in business. That’s really too bad because it can save your organization a lot of pain. The concept is quite simple: don’t expose yourself to a single point of failure. Always plan a backup.
Redundancy, Not Duplication
It’s not efficient to have two computers on your desk in case one fails. Most of your offices don’t have two huge office printers side by side. You almost certainly don’t have two CEOs. What I’m talking about here isn’t duplicating every purchase or hire. It is identifying multiple ways to accomplish the same goal.
Let’s look at a simple example:
You’re going camping and want to have a way to make a fire. Matches are an easy way to light a fire, so some might think that carrying twice as many matches as you think you need might be the answer. “If you need one match to light a fire, two matches are perfect. Two is one, right?”
This might work in some situations, but not in all situations. The question needs to be asked: why might the match fail? You could drop it. The wind could blow it out. The wood could be too wet.
A better solution might be to carry the matches as your primary fire source and carry a lighter as a backup. Why not just take only the lighter? It could run out of fuel. The flint could fail. It could be too cold outside for the butane to ignite.
When thinking about redundancy, the goal isn’t to duplicate the tool: it is to have multiple ways to accomplish the same goal.
The aim of deploying this practice in your business should be the same: don’t duplicate the tool; have backup capacity. Here’s how to identify failure points and solve this problem for yourself in your organization.
The Work You Must Do
Grab a pen and paper. Begin to make a list of the mission-critical areas or functions. Perhaps these are maintenance, or sales, or IT, or marketing (or all of the above). You decide that marketing is really important for your organization - but you have one marketing employee. What could go wrong in this situation that would impact your business?
They could request a long vacation.
They could get sick.
They could quit.
Next, break down the tasks that they do which are mission-critical in the short term. What absolutely has to happen tomorrow, next week, or next month (depending on the scope, size, and speed that your business operates at)?
Perhaps your business is a restaurant. At your restaurant, the chef shops in the markets each morning. Buying only the freshest ingredients, the chef creates daily specials to highlight these ingredients. The marketing person has to update the website, craft an email, and create an Instagram post each day, in addition to their regular long-term branding, PR, and reputation management work.
How could you apply the two is one, one is none principle if this was your business?
You could hire a second marketing employee (probably not affordable)
You could engage an agency or freelancer for a limited number of hours each month so that they become familiar with your business (perhaps).
You could build and document clear and specific instructions for specific marketing tasks and place them on a SharePoint or Google doc where others in your organization can see them.
You could cross-train other employees with your marketing person to do specific tasks.
Putting It Into Action
You operate a successful furniture store. You have a full-time marketing person who does everything for you: websites, social media, graphic design, and some Google ads. You’ve built a great reputation and word of mouth is important for your business. As a result, managing reviews is also a key to your success. You don’t have the resources or the need to hire a second full-time marketing person.
Suddenly, there’s a death in your marketer’s family, and they need to go home, far away, for an extended period of time. What do you do?
Thankfully, it’s not a problem because you followed the Two is One, One is None rule for the marketing area of your business. You’ve thought about what could go wrong and how you might overcome some of those challenges. As a result:
You have a detailed marketing plan with clear KPIs that are written in plain language.
You’ve built your website on a simple platform such as WordPress or Squarespace and your sales manager is able to go in and update the weekly specials as the need arises.
You have a freelance graphic designer who has been working with you for a long time that can whip up social media posts as needed.
Your office person or assistant either knows how to respond to positive and negative reviews, or you’ve given them a cheat sheet that anyone can follow to get great results.
You, as the owner, understand your paid marketing channels enough to edit an ad to add or remove budget or change the duration.
Using the steps above, you will be able to continue to operate your business for an extended period of time (e.g a few weeks) while your key employee is away. Is it perfect? No. Will it save your bacon? Absolutely.
There are other benefits to this strategy.
Transparency and communications are amazing tools for success in any organization. When people share and are appreciated for what they do, they get more excited about what they do! Employees who know more about other parts of your organization cross-pollinate ideas, find ways to collaborate and make friends with others in your company. This not only increases efficiency - it also makes your business a fun, friendly place to work. It lightens pressure and stress and lets your team enjoy their lives a little more.
This principle doesn’t just apply to providing backup for senior people in your organization. Managers who know how to do the real (front-line) jobs within an organization can plan and budget better. It’s no wonder that all Disney World theme park employees, even senior management, go through the same training as the newest recruits.
Summary
Identify Key Functions In Your Organization
Make a list of the ways you currently deliver those functions
Plan for the worst. What could happen that would make you unable to operate this portion of your business (or home life, or team) in the way that you do now?
For each function that has a single point of failure, brainstorm the actions you can take to build redundancy.
Take action! Document, redeploy, train, hire - build backups into the structure and culture of your organization.
What areas of your business are most susceptible to critical failure? What steps can you take in the next week to build redundancy into your organization? What about the next month?