Yank and Jerk

Avoid the Yank and Jerk

The one thing I love about working with business owners, is their crazy ability to generate all kinds of ideas and thoughts. They are constantly looking for ways to improve their business, to be better bosses and in how they can best serve their customers or clients.

For many of them, the world is full of possibility and opportunity and the problem is simply there isn’t enough time to get it all done.

On one hand, this is such a strength however on the other hand, it is also one of the reasons that in any company, there is a lot of “yank and jerk” that goes on. The owner wakes up in the middle of the night with a great idea and the next morning, he or she putting their employees to work to make it happen.

This is great, however the next night they come up with a different one and the cycle starts all over again. Their employees have barely got their head around what was wanted, and they are being “yanked and jerked” to the next thing.


Aside from the frustration this can create inside a company, the other thing is nothing ever really gets done to completion and therefore those really great ideas never end up seeing the light of day. Great ideas require staying power, in order to produce results.

So how do you sort out the great ideas from all the other ones? The answer is in identifying the criteria in which to evaluate them against and then in ranking them.


Let me use an example, to illustrate. If in this moment, let’s say you wanted to increase your revenue. This then becomes your criteria for evaluation. As various ideas pop into your head, you simply ask yourself whether they will increase your revenue. If they don’t then those ideas should be parked on an idea list for consideration at a later date.If the idea would increase your revenue, then it should be given a ranking. Say a 1 for something which would generate a lot of income and a 10 for something that might marginally increase revenue. Once ranked, the idea should be compared to the existing projects currently underway. Let’s say you are currently working on a project that was ranked at 3, and the new idea is a 6, then it should also be parked until the project currently being worked on is complete. If it ranked higher, then of course it might be worth changing your focus.


Creating focus within you and your team is critical to your success.

I am sure you will agree there have been times when you got caught up in the next big idea, only to have it fizzle away. With every fizzle, it is a waste of energy that could have been applied to those things that will make a difference.

Taking a step back for a moment to make this type of assessment, will ensure you avoid the “yank and jerk”. Trust me, you getting focused will allow you to achieve more results…just ask our clients!