The Original Butterfly Effect
You have probably heard of the “butterfly effect.” The standard example is of a butterfly flapping its wings in Asia effecting the weather the America. The geeky term used in Chaos math for this is “a sensitive dependence on initial conditions.” This butterfly effect was first discovered by scientists who were running computer models, hoping to be able to better predict future weather.
One night, somebody made a small mistake. You see, loads and loads of data were entered into the weather models and they ran overnight and listed out probable weather outcomes. One night somebody entered the data wrong. The made a small mistake, like entering .61 instead of .16 for a seemingly innocuous piece of data. Well, the computer models ran overnight and what was previously a beautiful sunny day in the model, turned into a typhoon or something. The outcomes were sensitively dependent on the initial conditions entered. A small change in the data produced a gigantic change in the weather outcome.
As a student, I found this concept fascinating but in recent years, as a business owner, I have discovered a new Butterfly Effect. It has nothing to do with initial conditions and everything to do with your business mindset. Let me explain.
The “Other Butterfly Effect”
My wife and I are partners in an Online Marketing Company. We specialize in SEO but also do some AdWords Campaign Management and help small brick and mortar businesses turn their website traffic into paying customers. As you can imagine, this means we approach small businesses and pitch them on our services. We were both in advertising sales in a previous life so the concept and execution is familiar to us.
Last month we were lucky enough to take a trip to “the beach.” When you live in Charlotte, North Carolina that means you head to somewhere on the S.C. coast. For us, it is usually Murrell’s Inlet, just south of Myrtle Beach. It is a great place to relax, get some beach time, re-charge, strategize and get ready to approach more small businesses in Charlotte.
This time, however, we decided to totally unplug from the business. We didn’t want to check e-mails, hold conference calls, write proposals or do anything business related while we were there. Oftentimes, we will dedicate some time to the business, even if we are way on vacation. And most of the time, it is no big deal. A quick phone call here and an e-mail there don’t necessarily ruin your time. As a matter of fact, it helps us focus on how we want to permanently run our business one day.
But for this small vacation we really wanted to leave it all behind for a few days and just spend some time as a family. No calls, no e-mails, no work. In order to make this happen it required that we put in some extra work before we leave so that all of our clients were well taken care of and all projects were complete before we left. Of course, we still had some prospective clients that we had made presentations to or sent a proposal. And we needed some of this business to come in. We had been talking with one prospective clients for over 4 months. It was getting to point where we thought no one was going to sign with us. Times like this can be extremely stressful but we were determined to “leave it all behind” for a few days. We put in all of our due diligence, followed up where we had to and figured we would touch base with our prospects when we returned.
This is where the other butterfly effect comes in. Have you ever tried to catch a butterfly? As a kid, I would waste away afternoons with a net or a jar and try to chase down butterflies in my back yard. Catching butterflies is now a favorite past-time of my son, Jake. He can run around for hours with his butterfly net, trying to capture them so he can get a closer look. But the harder he tries, the harder it gets. He will jump off his swingset, leap over the stream, creep under the deck – all to no avail. He can’t seem to catch one single butterfly.
This is how we felt when we left home and headed for the beach. We are always looking to work with new clients and most of time we gain our clients through referrals and recommendations. But we were working hard to land these new clients, these butterflies, and some hadn’t returned a phone call or e-mail in over a week. Stressed out and ready for relaxation, we headed to the beach.
Here is the thing that Jake hasn’t learned yet but could be the key to success in your business. Sometimes, you have to let go. Releasing the firm grip you have on your business can be very hard. When we are constantly attempting to achieve to level of success, it feels like we are in control of our destiny. But sometimes, the complete opposite is true. Sometimes you need to let go a little bit in order to really gain control. Power and control are difficult concepts to fully master and we often need to take a step back in order to see their illusory nature. Banging your head harder against the brick wall doesn’t mean you have gained anymore control over it. You are better off just walking away.
Relax Your Way to What You Want
So here is how the “other” butterfly effect works. Jake will chase these fluttering creatures all over the yard for an entire afternoon. We will tire himself out running around in circles with no real chance of catching anything. You can’t catch a butterfly by brute force. If he could just step back a bit and see that he is not in control, that he should just relax for a minute he would have a better chance. If he sat on the deck with a cold glass of lemonade, a butterfly just might land on his relaxed shoulder as opposed to flying into his hustling net.
When we unplugged at the beach last month, it was a much needed re-charging of our batteries. We took a step back to enjoy the truly important things in life. Clients and prospects would still be there when we returned. We decided to sit down and enjoy that glass of lemonade.
On the drive home, my wife started to ease herself back into work mode and checked her voicemail and e-mail. EVERY prospective client we had been chasing, contacted her. One message was for a contract. The butterfly landed on her shoulder! Now we are back in the race trying to remember that you can’t force it and that pushing too hard isn’t the best option.
It looks like Jake is starting to catch on too….
Image Credits:
Butterfly – Tara Swiciki – Gardener Extrodinaire
Jake with Butterfly – Trish Saemann – SEO Specialist and Rock Star Mom
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