Puzzle Me This

Puzzle Me This

As puzzles are back in vogue these days, I thought this might be of interest. Unfortunately, I’ve only had the opportunity to complete one over the past few weeks, but several themes rang true as I worked on it. Puzzling (is that what we call it?) makes you go through several stages, much like the business circle of life.

At first, puzzles are exciting. You find all the outside pieces, you put the four corners in a special place.

Startups are exciting!

You have a new mission, it’s constantly evolving, you get to make things up as you go along. The world of possibilities is endless.

You compile the outer ring and you start to feel like you can really do this.

You’ve got your first clients.

You are starting to hit your stride on marketing and hiring. You start to fill in some infrastructure. You hire your first BD person, your first C-Suite.

Then, the grind hits. You must keep at the puzzle. What seemed easy 100 pieces ago is suddenly very monotonous (for me, it’s always the sky portion!). The buzz wears off.

Months bleed into years.

Your offerings may change or expand, as does your client base. But the excitement starts to leave and the magnitude of what you want to accomplish and how hard you have to work hits you.

You find yourself trying the same pieces in the same spots, over and over. And they don’t fit. Yet you keep trying, expecting different answers. You find that you can’t see the forest for the trees (or the entire picture for the one area you are working on).

You lose focus on what’s important.

You can get caught up in the tactical, day to day without your eye on the exit plan. You may retain team members that you had from the beginning but no longer fit or they aren’t in the right positions. You know you have to pivot but you aren’t quite sure how. You feel like you are stuck in one place.

Through it all, you keep trudging along and the puzzle slowly comes together. Big chunks get done and you start to feel accomplished. You feel like you are working on the big picture and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. You’ll get stuck a few times, but you know that you will make it through. Pieces that you didn’t think would fit actually do. All it took was a different perspective.

Did you read that? All it took was a different perspective.

Right team in the right places.

Corporate culture that aligns. Everyone is focused on the mission and works together.

Finally, you complete the puzzle. A sense of reward, a sense of accomplishment. In my case, I turn it over to someone else to put it away, not wanting to personally break up what I worked so hard on.

This is different for everyone.

It may be the big sale, it could be a purchase of another company, it could be an ESOP or Management Buy-Out. You could decide to step down as the CEO and let someone else run it.

And then you consider your next puzzle.

Or your next opportunity.

Entrepreneurs at heart always have another company they’d like to start or will serve on boards or as advisors for those that want to start their own thing. We are a community that pays it forward.

What stage of the puzzle are you in with your current company? If you’re in the “grind” or “focus” section and you’re looking to get to the next phase we’re poised to help you prep. Change IS coming and preparing for it now is your best course of action. We have virtual support while you need it and on-the-ground professionals when the new-normal resumes. Contact us, and let’s discuss.

I enjoyed this article as an entrepreneur and lover of puzzles it resonated with me.

Mona Nguonly

Raising awareness and funding to support the underserved high schools in rural Southeast Asia

4 年

Love this article, Stephanie!

要查看或添加评论,请登录

Stephanie Alexander的更多文章

  • Now What?? A Call to Action for CEOs Post DOGE

    Now What?? A Call to Action for CEOs Post DOGE

    With more DOD cuts coming, it is hard to say that we’ve hit rock bottom or steady state, but for a lot of folks, we are…

    9 条评论
  • Not the Email I Want to Write

    Not the Email I Want to Write

    To our clients and network, It truly feels like March Madness since I’m pretty sure it has been at least 8 GovCon…

    9 条评论
  • Conference Season

    Conference Season

    Much has been written about the dos and do nots of attending conferences. But little has been geared towards the user…

    21 条评论
  • We Need to Get Younger Women on Boards

    We Need to Get Younger Women on Boards

    Washington Business Journal recently wrote an article about how the progress of women on corporate boards has now hit a…

    37 条评论
  • For the Love of GovCon

    For the Love of GovCon

    It’s the season of love, or so we’ve been programmed to believe by the corporate folks over at Hallmark. But we embrace…

    4 条评论
  • Goodbye 2023!

    Goodbye 2023!

    As we wrap up the year, I wanted to write a personal note to our tribe. It's been a shit year.

    89 条评论
  • Seriously with the Govt Shutdown?

    Seriously with the Govt Shutdown?

    In what is now an annual rite of passage, federal contractors face another potential government shutdown. This one…

    21 条评论
  • Birthday Vibes

    Birthday Vibes

    Wowzers..

    34 条评论
  • So...How are You Doing?

    So...How are You Doing?

    So how are you doing? This is the first question most people ask when they see me at a networking or industry event…

    38 条评论
  • Breast Cancer...WTF?

    Breast Cancer...WTF?

    This is a blog I never thought I’d write. I have been diagnosed with what looks like Stage I Breast Cancer (stages…

    99 条评论

社区洞察

其他会员也浏览了