Removing Obstacles

woothemes

If I can spend 15 minutes removing an obstacle for my team and the rest of the team can cumulatively save an hour in happiness & subsequent productivity, then I'm winning, they're winning and WooThemes is winning.


This morning whilst washing the office's dishes (which have piled up significantly, since our cleaning lady is still on leave after the holidays), I was reminded of how seemingly insignificant obstacles sometimes result in more significant consequences. [1]

As CEO, I don't necessarily think that washing dishes is part of my "job description" and it doesn't carry any obvious priority in terms of things I need to get done today. Similarly, I could have just asked / commanded anyone in the office to get it done and that would be totally acceptable.

I mean, I am the CEO. Right?

I don't share this view though. My job (as CEO / Co-Founder / insert whatever "important" title here) isn't always glamorous and neither can I describe all my tasks with fancy corporate words like strategizing, business development or leveraging synergies. Instead, sometimes the best thing I can do in my business is the smallest, simplest thing; especially if that means I can remove obstacles for my team.

If I can spend 15 minutes removing an obstacle for my team and the rest of the team can cumulatively save an hour in happiness & subsequent productivity, then I'm winning, they're winning and WooThemes is winning.

Cleaning the dishes is insignificant, but if that means that everyone in the office can enjoy breakfast and a cup of coffee without having to clean dishes beforehand, then I've done my job well.

[1] This post is obviously not about washing dishes or me washing the dishes. ;)