I was talking to a business owner recently who described his day.
His VA had messaged him 22 times. Small things. Quick questions. Little decisions.
He knew exactly what the problem was. He said, “I just haven’t set up the business architecture properly.”
He’s right. But the architecture isn’t just systems and processes. It’s how you respond when someone brings you a question.
Because here’s what happens when you just give the answer.
You’re fast. You’re helpful. Things get done.
But you’ve just taught them something. You’ve taught them that the quickest path to a solution is to ask you.
So they do it again. And again. 22 times a day.
Here’s what I use instead. I call it 1-3-1.
When someone comes to me with a question, I want three things. One question. Three options. One recommendation.
The critical piece is the last one. What would they do?
That forces them to think before they come to you.
Over time, they start thinking like you. They start making better recommendations. They start not needing to ask you at all.
I made a video walking through the whole framework plus a few other tactics that reduce the noise.
Lloyd
PS – If you want to see where your operational bottlenecks actually are, take the free assessment here: Operational Readiness Assessment.
