Just ONE Thing
Why Your Shop’s Biggest Problems Keep Coming Back
Episode 235
with Rick White, 180BIZ
Good morning. My name is Rick White from 180BIZ, and this is my Just ONE Thing. Today we're talking about PROBLEMS, and here's the thing I see about problems. That's the issue, is that there's so many people looking for a problem-free life. And you know, that's a pr—that's an issue. That—that's an issue. Because the reality is, problems are proof of life. The only people that are problem-free, their home address is a cemetery.
Problems aren't a punishment. Problems aren't failure. They're indicators. They're indicators that show you're either moving, growing, leading, and building, or you're stuck. You don't eliminate problems. You upgrade them or you keep them. What do I mean?
If you have the same problem this year as you did last year, then you are stuck. I need you to hear that. If you've got the same problems right now that you had a year ago, then you are stuck, and that's an issue. What I want you to understand is you have a choice with a problem. You're either gonna keep the same problem and stay stuck, or you're gonna trade it in for a bigger, more meaningful problem. That is a sign of growth, because what happens is you have your current location, right where you're at now, and you have your problems.
Now you fix those problems and you grow. Now you create new problems. Einstein once said that you can't solve a problem with the same level of intellect that created it. So what I wanna go through is why do you stay stuck? And I'm gonna give you a couple of things. First is the delusion, then the typical issue, and then the dangerous issue.
The first delusional reason why shop owners stay stuck is they think that their goal is to fix everything once and for all—to make all the problems go away, to create a problem-free shop. That is not gonna happen. It doesn't exist. That's the delusional part.
Here's the typical issue—get this, listen to this, write this down. You often confuse symptoms with problems, and that leads to so much frustration because of it. It's ’cause you confuse symptoms with problems.
But here's the most dangerous: it's where you adopt the problem, which is out here, as your identity. You bring it inside; you adopt it instead of outgrowing it. And that is a huge issue. So what are we gonna do about this? I want you to think about this, because really what we've got going on is I came across a quote.
This is actually what started this whole thing: “A problem well stated is a problem half solved.” That was by Charles Kettering, and I love that. The reality is we've gotta recognize—so Benji, the problem with John is he doesn't have the right bait. Where's phishing? We gotta recognize it's niche, not just problem and solution.
You gotta recognize that there's symptoms, problems, and solutions. So what is a symptom? The symptom is the pain. This is where it hurts. This is the loud issue, the urgent issue, the emotional issue. This is the symptom: we're always behind. It's because we can't find good help. There isn't anybody out there.
But here's the thing. You keep dealing with the symptom over and over again because what you're solving is not the real issue. So you have the symptom: we can't find any good help, I can't get the work through, we're just having no money. That is actually pointing you to the problem. It's the root cause that produces the symptom.
So think about this: if I can't get any good techs and this and that, it's because you don't have a pipeline. You don't have a hiring system. Or you don't have a culture worth joining. That hurts a little bit, but I want you to just get this really, really good.
If the problem keeps coming back, you haven't been solving the problem right. You've been band-aiding the symptom. Okay? I want you to hear that. If you keep dealing with the same thing, you aren't solving a problem; you're treating the symptom. So what we gotta understand is—we've talked about symptom, we've talked about problem—now talk about solution.
The solution is an action or a system that removes the problem permanently. In our situation, it would be building a recruiting system that is tied to both your culture and your values.
I need you to understand this, okay? There are so many shops that say there's no good help out there. And the reality is, you don't have a good shop to go to. You haven't shown anybody why they should be there. You haven't answered the question that a technician or an advisor's gonna ask: Why would I quit where I'm at, drive by three competitors, to work with you?
Until you can tie that—and it isn't just money. I'm seeing people in our industry leaving jobs that were paying a lot and going back to something that is less stress, more friendly, and easier to deal with, for less money. So we've gotta be very, very careful about that.
And here's the thing: one of the biggest things I see in this situation is when you feel like you're not as good as somebody else. You gotta understand that you have something unique and wonderful. Build on that. Stop looking at everybody else and become the very best shop that you are capable of becoming.
That's what you gotta do.
So here's what I want you to understand. I want you to understand that when you have a real solution—when you've identified the problem, not the symptom but the problem—and you have a real solution, the problem just goes away. It becomes irrelevant. You've solved it. How did you solve it? You got smarter. You learned more. You saw different perspectives. You were able to bring something to it that you didn't have before, and this is part of that growth process.
Now, in the process of doing that, you just created a new problem—and that's okay. That's what we're here to do.
So what I want you to understand is the flow: symptoms tell you where it hurts; problems tell you what to fix; solutions make the problems disappear. How cool is that?
So how do you trade up to better problems? I need you to ask yourself real quick: Is what I'm dealing with a growth problem, or is it a stuck problem? Right? Is it a growth problem or is it a stuck problem?
Your job is not to fix every problem in the shop. Your job is to fix the problems that are preventing you from achieving the destination that you want. There are some problems that are gonna stay there forever, and that's okay. Figure out which is the biggest bang-for-the-buck problem that's gonna help you leapfrog and move closer to where you wanna be and what you want to achieve. That's the problem to go after.
Growth problems challenge your capacity but move you forward. Stuck problems repeat and drain you, and that's what I need you to understand.
Growth comes from pursuing the solutions that feel uncomfortable. You're gonna be doing stuff that scares the crap outta you, and that's exactly what should be happening, because every new level has new devils—and you need to understand that. And that's by design.
So how are you gonna do this? You're gonna slow down. State the problem clearly. What symptom am I reacting to? Understand you're reacting to a pain, a symptom. What's causing it? This is where the gold is. What's causing it? What other perspectives do I need? And what would remove this permanently?
I need you to stop firefighting and start problem-identifying. That's gonna make all the difference in the world, because you're gonna build your shop by solving real problems, not band-aiding symptoms.
I want to give you a challenge. Think of one problem that you have in the shop right now. Stop wishing for fewer problems. Build capacity for better ones by identifying one real problem that you can solve this week. A problem well-defined is a problem half solved. I hope that really works for you.
If you love this—next Thursday, December 11th, I'm doing a webinar called Strategic Goal Setting. It takes all the myths and disappointments and frustrations, puts them on the table, helps you figure out how to set real achievable goals. It's in our Pocket Business Genius. Also next Thursday is our Shop Owners Round Table.
Would absolutely love to see you guys in there. I hope this helps.
What stuck out to you real quick in the comment? What stuck out about today's message? Like, what kind of hit you today? Gimme a real quick one in the messages, in the comments: What really stuck out about today? I hope it's the fact that most of you are dealing with symptoms, not problems. You're not going down to the core issue, and that's why the suckers keep coming back again and again.
Gotta stop that. Gotta stop that, right? You gotta start figuring out—stepping back a little bit. Don't react to the pain.
At one point I was going through something, and my mom said to me—I was walking through the kitchen, my chin dragging on the floor. My mom says to me, she goes, “Rick, God won't give you anything you can't handle.” And I looked at her, smiled feebly, and said, “I think God has a very high opinion of me.”
But you know something? We were able to overcome it. I figured it out.
So everybody, I want you to have an amazing week. God bless. Go make some money. I'll see y'all next week. Take care. Bye-bye.
