Structural Stress, Not Personal Failure
Many Caribbean businesspeople begin their day at 4:00 AM, finish long before midnight, and yet many experience frustration, stagnation, and burnout. Systems expert and writer Krystle Phillips believes that, though the issue is not necessarily the amount of work put into the operation but how they conceptualize the organization.
Phillips is based in Trinidad and Tobago, but was born in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. She has been assisting farmers and agro-processors for twelve years to improve efficiency. Her company, which she founded in 2014, is a consulting firm. In addition, she wrote “Misdiagnosed: Why Micro Agro-Processors are Set up to Fail.” According to Phillips, much of the “stress” that business people experience is structural rather than personal.
Phillips also stated that business people are generally trained to perceive operational difficulties as personal weaknesses rather than problems stemming from poorly designed systems. “If it doesn’t function,” Phillips states, “you’re supposed to ‘fix’ yourself.” Phillips maintains that much of the stress experienced by entrepreneurs results from poorly designed systems such as inefficient processes, improper tools, or unclear roles.
“You’re using something fundamentally broken from its inception,” Phillips said. “Even someone who works incredibly hard can only perform so long if there are issues with the system.”
The “feeling of overwhelm” that some business people may experience results from a series of small, cumulative gaps in their workflow.
Phillips used the manual grating of coconuts as an example of what happens when a business person uses outdated practices. An individual may need 15 minutes to manually grate one coconut. A machine would allow them to process 100 coconuts in the same amount of time.
Phillips emphasized that doing tasks manually that require automation or creating uncertainty in production can create an accumulation of inefficiency leading to feelings of overwhelm.
Decision fatigue, or the inability to make necessary choices due to exhaustion from excessive decision-making, adds additional complexity to a poorly constructed system.
To mitigate the effects of decision fatigue Phillips limits her own decision-making by wearing a uniform on each day consisting of jeans and shirts with pre-assigned colors representing different days. This helps conserve mental resources for important business decisions.
Perhaps one of the largest dangers facing local businesses is the tendency to expand too rapidly. Phillips expressed concern over adding increased volumes to an improperly functioning system does not increase profitability; instead it creates an unstable environment. “You’re just taking all of this extra strain on top of a bad system,” she said. “It’s going to grow, but it’s going to be amplified and you’ll break.”
Phillips identifies a distinction between working hard and working effectively in a good system.
Working Hard: The entrepreneur holds the business together. When he takes a two week vacation, the business stops.
Good System: The business runs independently while the entrepreneur functions as a leader and/or mentor.
Those currently experiencing the weight of their operations, Phillips suggests stopping. She advises owners to stop whatever they are doing and take a moment to evaluate their operations, map them in the simplest way possible, and identify where time and energy are being wasted.
Phillips also has words of caution for new entrants into the entrepreneurial community. “Don’t think it’s sexy,” she cautions. Self employed people have more bosses (customers and stakeholders) than employees. “If it’s your calling and your passion pursue it,” she says. “Just do it with a plan.