This short phrase has been with me for years, ever since my first introduction to the London underground system when I was four or five years old, accompanied by my mother.
As the underground carriage doors slid back, a voice boomed out from the Tannoy system, “Mind the Gap”. This prompting warning was also imprinted alongside the track opposite the various entry points to the carriages.
Apparently, people mustn’t have been minding the gap, which precipitated this attention to it.
It has stuck with me to be a warning for so many other things. I played various sports at all levels, and when I put in a lackluster performance, “mind the gap” would come back to haunt me. It was a reminder that either my strategy or tactics weren’t quite right. The gap with strategy resulted in me thinking more about how to get myself in a better position to play the ball, and the tactics gap was an analysis of my technique for playing the ball.
Fairly recently, this term was used by one of my colleagues at Success Authorities, and the memories came flooding back.
“Mind the gap” can mean a lot of things, but my colleague was using it exactly as I did; to explain what was missing between where we expected performance to be and the current reality.
Many, many CEOs and business owners have a vision of where they would like to be and struggle with how to get there. Half of the battle is understanding that there is a gap. The next half of winning that battle is understanding how to fix it. This often needs outside help, people who have been there before, have done it and helped others.
If you find yourself thinking “Mind the gap!” Stop and think, “Is it my strategy or is it the tactics?” Sometimes, it can be a combination of both. The next thought should be, “Can I really fix this myself?” Probably not.
Business gaps are best detected through an expert lens. Seeking insight into potential gaps in your company’s strategy, culture, or tactics? Success Authorities can help.