Are You Focused on the Wrong Things? The Lane Audit
“I developed the Lane Audit as a periodic check-in for leaders to help them pause and assess major areas of their business. Really, this is the tool I wish I had while I was a founder…”
I don’t remember the content of the board meeting.
I don’t remember what we decided.
I don’t remember what month it was or the issues we were facing.
What I remember was one of my last startup’s board members dropping some advice on me that would change how I view what I’m carrying for the rest of my life. Here’s what he said…
“Think of all areas of the startup as swim lanes. Sales is a lane. Marketing is a lane. Product is a lane… You want to get to the finish line in each of them but you can only move so much forward at a time. Sometimes you have to jump into a different lane, make progress, then get into another one and pick up where you left off. Think through which ones need attention now and be okay with moving them forward incrementally over time.”
As a young kiddo I was on my city’s swim team. I probably still have trauma from having to wear a green and black tie dye speedo at 8 years old. Anyways, this mental picture of swim lanes made sense to me. Here’s what I personally took from this image:
It’s unrealistic for me to expect myself to be able to swim in multiple lanes at the exact same time.
It is okay to spend my time methodically moving from lane to lane in order to make progress. This is true in the macro and in the day-to-day. Sometimes I spend the day in one lane, and others I’m in 5. Welcome to the life of a founder.
Just because a lane is far behind does NOT necessarily mean that it needs attention. When building a business, resources are so limited that sometimes you have to neglect certain areas. This rubs me the wrong way, but I’ve found it to be true too many times.
I need to have a good grip on what my business needs to move forward in at any given time.
If you’re a leader, my guess is that you have spent more time than you care to admit worrying whether you are focused on the right things.
I’ve been there. I think every leader has.
I developed the Lane Audit as a periodic check-in for leaders to help them pause and assess major areas of their business. Really, this is the tool I wish I had while I was a founder but didn’t have the brain space to think up… you know… juggling everything.
If you’ve spent any time in the past month questioning whether you are focused on the right things or not, I challenge you to do the Lane Audit. While I can’t promise that you’ll be 100% certain that you’re doing the right things (only history can judge that), I will guarantee you that the Lane Audit will give you more clarity and confidence in what you’re putting your effort towards.
After you’ve gone through the Lane Audit, reach out and let me know what you learned and if you need help addressing any questions that came up.
