Over at Motivation Junction, we came across a video post today using a quote by General George Patton to illuminate a triage concept for executing on strategy. Now whatever you opinion of Patton, it’s undeniable that he was a competitor, a winner, and a motivator par excellence. The man could deliver a speech that makes modern-day, Tom Peters type motivational fare look like a depressed Big Bird talking to an empty room at the local rotary club.

Feeling less than motivated and looking for some small business motivation to jump start your company or just yourself? If you’re reading this particular blog, chances are you could definitely use a swift kick in the motivational posterior. Or even if you’re on the right track, it never hurts to call in some encouraging reinforcement.

Says Patton, “A good plan violently executed today is better than a perfect plan executed in the future.”

In business, as in war, it pays to act sooner rather than later. You can concept a perfect strategy for months, and you can refine your roadmap document until it gleams with the sheen of yellow brick. But meanwhile… Your competitors are driving against you like a German blitzkrieg. Time is of the essence in any business, no matter what the competitiveness level. If you tale too much time fretting over every last detail of your plan, your competition is going to step into the breach and act, leaving you under threat of becoming irrelevant.

This same analogy applies to hospital triage. Sure: It’d be great to have a world class orthopedic surgeon set a broken limb on the battlefield. But with hundreds injured, a fast-working army doctor, prioritizing his time to help the greatest number is clearly the best option.

The moral of the story? You must ruthlessly prioritize your action items and execute on them as soon as possible! Or perhaps even sooner. We hope this helps give you some business motivation

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