The Zone of Genius and Outsourcing
If you’re like most people, the idea of outsourcing makes you nervous, especially when it comes to your business and its most important operations. However, outsourcing doesn’t have to be synonymous with cheap labor and poor quality; instead, it can help you harness the power of your zone of genius by freeing up your time to focus on what you do best—designing and selling your products or services—while allowing experts who are better at their particular tasks to handle the rest.
What is a Zone of Genius?
The Zone of Genius is defined as an area in which a person can create their best work. At its core, it is about being in your element and doing what you do best. Everything else falls into place when you are operating in your Zone of Genius. Working from within your Zone of Genius allows you to see things clearly and frees up energy that would otherwise be spent deciding or worrying about where to focus one’s attention and efforts. This allows for strategic business planning instead of day-to-day tactical battles with tasks that don’t align with one’s genius zone.
Find Your Zone of Genius
We are all born with a certain amount of intellectual horsepower. That is, we all have a natural aptitude for some things but not others. Identifying your zone of genius can help you decide what kind of work you should be doing. One thing that helps is Steve Martin’s term zone of genius, which he uses to refer to the place where your talents come together in a powerful way. When finding your zone, don’t go by what interests you—go by what makes you good at something. This may seem counterintuitive (after all, everyone loves what they’re good at), but only by identifying your zone of genius will you ever find success. After all, as Darwin said, it’s not the strongest or fastest who survive; it’s those most adapted to their environment. Finding your zone of genius means finding what best suits you and allows you to achieve great things. More importantly, it means living more efficiently—meaning more time left over for family or friends or anything else you love doing in life.
Seek Out Help
When you know what your zone of genius is, it’s time to seek out help. What skills do you need that you don’t possess? Find someone who can fill those holes. This isn’t about being cheap—it’s about optimizing your skills so that you aren’t wasting time doing things you aren’t good at (and won’t ever be good at). It’s also important to point out that outsourcing does not mean becoming lazy or disengaged from your business. It’s still your responsibility to oversee projects and guide their direction; hiring great talent is simply a way for you to focus on what matters most—like product development, sales, marketing, and building brand recognition. Richard Branson has said, “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” The key here is knowing when to hire outside help instead of continuing to try something yourself until it doesn’t work anymore.
Build Relationships With Experts
You might be worried about outsourcing to someone you don’t know or who doesn’t know your industry or your business. What if they charge too much? Or don’t deliver a quality product? The truth is, you should have concerns, but so long as you do your homework and do it right, then outsourcing is a strategy that can work for any company—even yours. It all comes down to what’s called the zone of genius. The best thing about outsourcing is that it puts more money in your pocket in less time by allowing you to spend less time on tasks than someone else who knows how to perform those same tasks better than you do. That’s how experts make their living; they know how to do things better than anyone else. While both parties win in an outsourcing agreement, it really works because there’s a significant enough margin between what it costs you versus what you sell your products or services for. All things being equal, when revenue exceeds the cost, then profit exists—and outsourced labor will generate profit if done correctly.
Be On the Lookout For Opportunities
You can’t do everything. The key to success is identifying your zone of genius -- that thing you’re exceptionally talented at -- then partnering with others whose strengths match up well with your weaknesses. When you’ve done that, don’t hesitate to outsource other tasks. There are several benefits: You’re not spending as much time on lower-value tasks, which means you have more time to focus on what you really love doing; it frees up capital because outsourcing tasks is typically a lot cheaper than doing them yourself, and it allows you to reach people around the world who can offer support or expertise in areas where you may be weak. Don’t force yourself into an unnatural role if your skills aren’t a good fit for it. If writing isn’t your talent, but designing websites is, work with someone else (an expert) who does write well. That way, you can stick to those things you’re good at and build upon those experiences rather than detracting from them.
Be Patient
It’s important to understand that outsourcing is not always a quick fix. Just because you can get results faster doesn’t mean that you should expect those same results immediately. There will be growing pains while you learn how to communicate your needs clearly to your outsourcer, just as there will be while they get familiar with your specific industry or business model. Don’t expect both parties to be fluent in one conversation. If it takes some time, that’s fine—as long as progress is being made. By having patience and sticking it out, you’ll keep yourself from hiring an outsourcer based on price alone—because eventually, that method could lead to lackluster work or a complete lack of interest altogether. You don’t want to have outsourced your tasks only to find you now need help managing them. This defeats all initial intentions; it may seem like a paradox but remember: waiting isn’t so bad when done with foresight, planning, and expectations managed. It would also make sense at some point for either side of the partnership (you & vendor) to meet each other personally so communication lines are not limited by distance, but build a personal relationship for better understanding & more synergy later.