I grew up with my dad saying phrases like “…while we are in town we should see all we can, the whole shooting match.”
The Whole Shooting Match was the title of a 1979 film about two alcoholics who keep trying to make their fortune on a series of inventions, staking everything (the whole shooting match) without success
These days I’ve been thinking about the term in regards to my work in the music business and all the details that should be thought through and developed in order that I can do what I do and do it well.
I once had a nerf gun shootout in the basement of a house in Missouri. And while I have hunted and been around guns my whole life, when you are shooting almost weightless ammunition it’s difficult to tell who wins. But every time I go back to Missouri we have a rematch. I think we have a rematch as it’s good old-fashioned fun.
The shooting match analogy got me thinking about all the details I could potentially overlook if I don’t know:
What is the cost of bullets?
How many do we have and how are they distributed?
How do we determine a win?
Here is a working list of questions:
Am I asking the right questions to build the best practices for my company?
Am I seeking out peers I can dialogue with?
How do I find a mentor?
How do I review my own performance and how often?
What are my monthly, quarterly, and annual goals?
Four questions I ask myself regularly for a quick diagnostic :
Where am I thriving?
Where am I struggling?
What’s confusing?
What’s missing?
What’s next?
