Is Your Business Built Like A Rube Goldberg Machine?

My younger brother and my daughter have always had a special bond. I blame it on their shared traits of being wicked smart and a little bit naughty. 🙃. They’re both great at “solving puzzles” and from a young age, he loved teaching her how to do things and then teaching her new and “more fun” ways to do things.

When he introduced her to Rube Goldberg, I didn’t know who he was or what he was famous for, but once he explained it, it all made sense as to why he chose to impart this particular bit of knowledge.

You see, Rube Goldberg was known for taking something simple and making it as complicated as possible, just for fun.

Need to open a door? Let’s build the most complicated contraption that doesn’t require you to use your hands, but will turn your entryway into a impassible space once you have the door open…. Want to pour yourself a cup of coffee? Let’s set up the pot and the cup and then add levers, pullies, dominoes, etc. to tip the pot and fill the cup without spilling, leaving your kitchen counter cluttered with non-kitchen essentials….

So what does this have to do with your business you might ask? …. (If you’re new to my blog, you’ll learn quickly that I like to tell stories and then connect the dots…..) Many of us have built businesses that operate like Rube Goldberg machines without even realizing it. As our businesses grow organically, which is part of the natural evolution, we often add steps to our processes or new systems to the mix and before we know it a simple process is now overly complicated. In Rube Goldberg’s case, his “complications” are intentional. I’m encouraging you to do the opposite and be intentional about not over-complicating things.

What’s the best way to do this? Take some time each quarter to work ON your business and re-evaluate your current systems and processes. The goal should always be simple, easy, and repeatable. If they’re not, brainstorm with your team on how to modify them and then try, track and tweak as needed until you get It just right.

Think back to being a kid and building a domino chain that would topple with just one tap. You most likely didn’t get it right on the first try, but if you stuck with it until you got the spacing and angles just right so the small push at the start led to a smooth chain reaction with a clean finish it was well worth the effort.

Want more help with looking at your business from a different perspective? Schedule a free discovery call and let’s chat about the areas of your business that could use some simplification.