Have you ever picked apples at an apple orchard? Trees burgeoning with plump, perfectly shaped apples, ripe for the picking. Growing up in California, we had such a prolific tree in the backyard of our house. During August and early September, Mom would send me out to pick the apples and gather up the strays lying on the ground. I’d haul them into the house with a bushel basket and Mom would turn most of them into applesauce. The very best specimens were sliced up, covered with dough and baked into Mom’s excellent apple pie.

Most of the apples, hanging enticingly from the branches, looked perfect. Or at least until you grabbed one and studied it more carefully. You know, one side of the apple looked great, but when you turned it over you’d find a wormhole or a deep bruise. Damaged goods.

But how many times have you taken a bite before performing your due diligence—checking it out from every angle?

Imagine the scene: you enter the packed press room and immediately sense the energy from the crowd of reporters. You take a seat at the long table amidst what seems like a sea of cameras, microphones, tangled wires, and bright lights. A reporter from Entrepreneur Magazine stands to ask the first question, and a hush falls over the room. “How confident are you that your team can take you all the way to the championships this year?”

How would you answer? Are you confident in your current business team? If you were struck with fear at the thought of answering that question honestly in front of reporters and cameras, or anyone for that matter, keep reading.  

If you’re like most bosses, you do most of the talking. Frankly, this one-way-street behavior needs to change. Your job is to ensure that the dialogue is 80/20, where your direct report is doing 80% of the talking and you’re talking only 20% of the time. The only way to make that happen is to ask questions instead of making statements.

When we begin implementing EOS with a company, we always ask the leaders to commit fully to the journey ahead – the journey to become their very best as a leadership team. One of the specific things that requires is to take responsibility for everything that you and your fellow leaders have created in your organization. Like a lot of things in EOS, that sounds easy – but it’s hard and very rare.

What we’re talking about is avoiding the blame game, which is so common in lean, fast-moving organizations. Most readers of this blog know the feeling well – you’re sailing along, growing and prospering, and then all of a sudden you hit the ceiling. You’re stuck or derailed by a major problem, or by hundreds of little ones. It’s frustrating and scary – and when you’re frustrated and scared your emotions can get the better of you.

As an EOS Implementer, it is a continuous journey of learning and mastery. I often talk to my clients about how the Entrepreneurial Operating System helps bring balance to one's life. I emphasize how important it is to take a "Clarity Break." It's usually in the context of business chaos.

You know the feeling: there are 20 issues to solve and you have numerous deadlines in seemingly unreasonable time frames. Without realizing it, you lose focus and your ability to prioritize and make good decisions is compromised. You are ineffective. You need a timeout to regain your focus. We call that a "Clarity Break."