An unexamined life is not worth living.

2023 looks like we face more uncertainty than normal. Uncertainty is a killer. Martin Luther said, “Nothing in the world creates as much misery as uncertainty.”

I was in Chicago this week working with a top 10 division for the nation’s top home builder, @lennarhomes. As you might guess, the highest mortgage rates in 40 rates have put the industry on alert going into 2023. How does a tighter housing market impact land acquisition for future developments? What about the size and quality of finishings on homes in production? Where will cost savings come from? What about strategies to sell current inventory?

I was brought in to help celebrate them persevering to hit their goals in 2022 AND help set them up to win next year. We opened with a simple but powerful exercise any company or person can use. I recommend you try it. When we face adversity the tendency is to focus on what is wrong. Try the opposite. Brainstorm everything is RIGHT with the current situation. Remember Socrates’ famous quote – An unexamined life is worth living.

Next, what has been frustrating and causing a lack of productivity? What is not quite right? We produced a very specific list of the top 15 challenges that need to be addressed going into 2023. Items like better clarity with expectations/accountability and “scope of work” with their trades and needing to go back to an “old school” strategy in their sales centers in each of their communities.

Take the time to do this exercise with yourself, your family and your business to set you up to win in 2023. We are guaranteed to have many events happen no one saw coming. It can help deal with uncertainty!

This was a simple plan with steps to solve each one IN THEIR CONTROL. Each area we had one person take ownership of. Some problems like an out of date legacy software system are up to corporate to fix.

The old school fix in the sales center – get rid of the finicky touch screen Ipads to show floor plans and the community layout. Much easier to go back to having them printed large on the walls to show the available vs. sold homes/dirt in the community and floor plans.

These three questions make great exercise for you or any company to help set you up to win in 2023. You don’t need me, although I do a fantastic job leading it and getting people prepared for the coming year.