Just ONE Thing
Why More Training Isn’t Making Your Shop Better
Episode 248
with Rick White, 180BIZ
Good morning. My name is Rick White from 180BIZ. This is my Just ONE Thing.
We are a training and coaching company for the independent auto and truck repair shops.
There was an accident on 70 yesterday that got me tied up. But I'm sitting here and I'm kind of going over the whole thing with Vision. It was an awesome show. There were hundreds of classes, vendors, man, energy, lots of lots of great ideas, and I was thinking about it over and over again.
I was thinking about how many times I heard shop owners tell me yesterday morning before my class that their heads were ready to explode, right? And it really got me thinking about this morning. There were so many shop owners there, and they went to Vision for knowledge, which is awesome.
You want to learn? Okay. But nothing changes in your shop unless you do.
Training doesn't make you better, and I want you to hear me say that. Training doesn't make you better.
Application makes you better.
And what happens? We are in a world right now where we are drowning, drowning in information. I was talking to some of the guys, even mechanics and technicians, and they were talking about how they're listening to podcasts and stuff like that during the day while they're working.
And there's a real danger in this, and the danger is you get stuck in what I call the learning loop, where it feels like I want to do something bigger and better. But in the process, I don't feel like I'm enough yet. I don't feel like I know enough. I need to know more.
And that is an issue.
That is an issue because what happens is you start learning, and it feels better.
So what happens is you start learning. It starts to make you feel better because you feel like you know a little bit more about the subject. But then you start to think about applying it, and then all of a sudden it's like, no, I need more learning.
And then you get more learning, and it starts to feel better. And then you just keep going like this back and forth and back and forth, and you end up learning a ton and applying none.
This is a problem.
And here's the other thing that's really the issue. You go to this training, and that's amazing, but then you go back to the shop and you judge your success by outcomes, right? You judge yourself on sales, on hours billed, on net profit, car count, whatever it is.
But I need you to understand that an outcome is a lagging indicator. It is a ruler. It's not something you judge yourself on.
What you judge yourself on is what you do, the effort you bring, because when you judge your outcome and you don't hit it, you start to go to blame. You're gonna blame the economy. You're gonna blame the techs, the advisors. You're gonna blame the customers. You're gonna blame the training. The training I just took doesn't work.
But that's not it.
Here's the issue. I came across a Marshall Goldsmith quote. Marshall Goldsmith is a coach and an amazing author. He has got a book that says What Got You Here Won't Get You There.
So what I want to step back on is really unpack this quote. It says to get better at whatever you want to do or be, you have to take responsibility for it every single day. Not once a quarter. Not when it's convenient. Every single day.
So the thing that's really cool about this, and I want you to think about it, it's a two-part solution.
First of all, you want to recognize and judge yourself on your effort—your intentions, your focus, and your effort. That's what you want to judge yourself on.
The result, the outcome, is a ruler on how well you're doing the effort, and that's all it is.
So I do some work and then I look up at the result. Okay, I'm moving closer. Let me do some more work, and then I'm moving closer. That's what it's all about.
So don't feel like a failure because you're not at three hours a ticket. Ask yourself, what are the actions I need to take to get to three hours a ticket?
And then focus on those actions. Focus on your consistency and focus on your quality.
That's where this gets really, really better.
And when you really focus on those two things, before you know it the outcome is in your pocket. That's what's amazing about this.
You can't control every outcome in your shop. It's not there.
And what I love about this shift, this shift in thinking, is it removes all the excuses.
Instead of looking at, you know, I'm not hitting my hours and you're saying, "Oh, it's the economy. Oh, it's the customers." No, no, no. It's you, dude.
You gotta be able to step back and say, what am I doing? My effort, my behavior—that's what it's all about.
So this is a two-step process.
What you're gonna do is you get up in the morning. You set intentions.
Here's six questions that will help you—the intention questions. This is where I'm taking a moment in the morning to focus myself, to picture what the day is gonna look like. And I recognize sometimes they go sideways, but you're gonna have a better day when you start it with intention.
So here's the first question.
What is my priority today? What's the one priority in my shop today? Is it clear?
What is my priority today?
What key metric will I move forward today?
What will I do to lead my team intentionally today?
What will I do today to build one stronger relationship?
What will I do today to stay focused instead of being reactive?
And then what will I do today to operate my business at the level it requires?
See, when you ask those questions in the morning, you start to create an image in your mind. When you create that image, it creates a focus, and the focus creates energy toward what you want.
Then you're going to act. You're gonna work throughout the day.
And then at the end of the day:
Did I do my best to set clear priorities today?
Did I do my best to move one key metric forward?
Did I do my best to lead my team intentionally today?
Did I do my best to build at least one stronger relationship today?
Did I do my best to stay focused instead of reactive?
Did I do my best to operate at the level my business requires?
When you start asking these questions, what I want you to understand is this is the debrief part.
This is where the actual growth comes from.
You set the intention in the morning—I call it prepare—and then you act throughout the day, and then you reflect at night and you do a debrief.
And it's not about did I do it or not, and was I a failure or not. You could even grade yourself on a one to ten and then ask yourself, what can I do better tomorrow?
And that's all it is.
This is about progress, not perfection.
What I need you to understand, the hard truth is you don't have a knowledge problem. You have an application problem.
Stop being afraid of taking action and start doing it, because that's where the real lessons are.
You can only learn so much. It's not until you apply it that the real lessons come in.
Okay?
So things like Vision, which was absolutely off the hook, and I highly recommend it—Vision gives you knowledge. These shows give you knowledge.
But better growth comes from daily ownership.
You don't need 12 new strategies. You don't need 30 new things to do.
You honestly could stop listening to all these things because, honestly, what's happening is you're listening to all these different podcasts, and each one is making you actually feel a little bit more desperate because you don't know enough.
You need to do more.
What I want you to do this week is actually challenge yourself. Challenge yourself to stay on track with one priority, staying on track in the morning, setting the intention, and then debriefing at the end of the day.
And then after you do the debrief, create a plan for the next day.
That's beautiful, right? Because then you're in the zone.
This is where real growth happens.
It's not learning. It's not planning. It's not, "I'll do it next week, next month," whatever that is.
Start right now.
Set the intentions in the morning, do the work, and then reflect and make a plan.
Everybody, thank you for being here. If this message resonated, please share it.
And if you're listening to this and thinking, holy crap, I need help, just give me a call. Let's see if we can help you out.
You can reach me at [email protected], and I'd be happy to set up a time and sit down and talk with you.
Everybody, thank you.
Remember, the juice is worth the squeeze.
Amen. It is.
Feeling that progress. We feel like that learning is what's making us feel good about this. It's not. It's the progress. It's when we see ourselves moving forward.
So everybody, thank you so much. God bless. Have a great week and go make some money.
We'll see you later.
Bye-bye.
