Which Needle Are We Moving?

Have you ever noticed how much is made about moving needles?

This action will move the needle. That action won’t move any needles. Something else moves the wrong needle.

And?

What needles are we moving and why do they need to be moved?

We all probably understand what we mean when we use this inane business mumbo jumbo so let’s not dive into that. Rather, let’s dive into which needles we are trying to move and where do we want them to move to?

Here’s one: we want the revenues up.

Here’s another: we want the profits up.

How about this: we want expenses down.

All of those are needles that move and they should be moved because keeping them moving the right way keeps us in business. Being in business is a good thing.

But what if we focus on moving other needles?

More opportunities for others.

More generosity toward others.

More service of others.

Less comfort for me.

Less concern about myself.

I think those are needles worth moving and if future experience is similar to past experience, moving those needles will move the other needles.