Why "If you want it done right do it yourself" is the WORST Advice Ever Given...

There is an old adage that states: "If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself."  You may be tempted to think this is good advice, but you would be wrong.  You may be tempted to think "no one in my company can complete this task, because no one can do it to my standard."  Again, you are causing trouble for yourself.

Pride Paves the way to Bankruptcy

The difference between doing something well and choosing properly something that only you can do is huge.  The former leads to bankruptcy, stress, exhaustion, and a poorly run business because that decision is made from pride.  When pride says "Only I can do" it is typically wrong.

Conversely, when necessity says: "Mr. Owner, only you can do this one" that's logic, not pride.

For instance, only you have a clear vision and truly understand where you want your business to go, what kind of culture you want the business to have, and how successful you want the business to be.  This is strategic, and like most strategic issues, only you can do it.  Only you can write the vision and missions statements.  Only you can safeguard the strategy with which you will grow the business into a thriving enterprise.

Another example of things only you can do is: exercise. Proper health and exercise are very important.  If you're laden with prescriptions, or if your calendar is full of doctor's appointments, you cannot concentrate on your business properly.  Conversely, if you do something only you can do: exercise, then that gives way to less stress and a healthy lifestyle.  So the question becomes: "Do I delegate this work so I can go run 6 miles or do I do it myself and keep my employee bored in the office and idle?"

You run.

The Application

When you have clarity on what tasks only you can do, and what tasks can be delegated, your choices become clear.  Do I clean the house or do I exercise?  Simple. You go exercise, and pay someone to clean the house.  Do I cook dinner or do I hire a house keeper?  The answer?  Hire a house keeper?  Why would you be doing $8 an hour work when you could be doing something priceless like spending quality time with your family, which is something only you can do.  Why do yard work?  Why clean out your own gutters?

Admittedly, many of my readers will not be in a position to hire full time staff to operate their home, garden, and gutters.  But you are in a financial position to make certain small steps.  You can hire more employees, or change the way you interact with your employees.  You can begin to implement this strategy of leveraging only the highest and best use of your time.  You are in a position to clarify (in your life and business) what tasks are tasks that only you have the capability of completing.  Things you can do are not necessarily things you should do.

Tasks that only you can do are, by necessity, things you must do.  Things you do because you don't like how others do them are not things you should be doing.  That's just your pride interfering with your success.

This article is a reprint of Why “If you want it done right do it yourself” is the WORST Advice Ever Given from my blog at TotalTicketSystem.com. Used with permission.