Is your business 'kit share' ready?

Business advice from a drummer... really?

There is something us drummers have to put up with which, when you think about it, is a bit bonkers. It is called the 'kit share'.

What is a 'kit share'?

If more than one band is playing at a smaller pub or club, the stage is rarely big enough for every drummer's kit, and there is not enough time to swap them on and off between sets. So traditional etiquette dictates that the headline band's drummer brings the kit and the support acts borrow it and make do.

Guitarists do not compromise. Keyboard players somehow find the time to wheel their instruments on and off stage. Drummers? No such luxury.

The support act drummer gets what they are given. The headline drummer may have a monster kit with every bell and whistle imaginable, or it may be a minimalist setup with barely anything to hit. They are also perfectly within their rights to ask you not to move anything (that would eat into precious changeover time).

What on earth does this have to do with your business?

I want you ask yourself if your business is 'kit share' ready.

Imagine sitting down at your desk to start your working day. The chair is lower than you are used to. Someone has swapped your trusty PC for a Mac (for what it is worth, I am firmly in the Mac camp, but let us not get into that today). The monitor is smaller and at a different angle. The mouse has no buttons. The keyboard is lighter.

You open the applications menu (there is no Start button) and find that half the programmes you rely on are not installed. There are alternatives (Pages instead of Word, perhaps). Slack is blocked by the internet provider. You will have to use Trello today.

Are your palms sweating? If they are, you're not there yet.

A funny thing happens when I sit behind a stranger's drum kit

I don't care.

It does not matter that there is a ten inch tom in front of me rather than my usual twelve. It does not matter that the ride cymbal is on the right when mine lives on the left. I am not sitting there mourning my usual setup or mentally composing a complaint to the headline drummer about the placement of the hi-hat.

All I am thinking is "how do I still serve the song?" To me it is not about the tools (though I have my preferences and my comfort setup, of course). It is about making sure the audience still goes home having had a fantastic night.

If I know how to do that, I can make do with what is in front of me. And if I am feeling particularly playful, I might have some fun with this new way of working. I may even discover that I do something better than I usually do it.

If I really know the song, I will find a way to play it.

Shiny Object Syndrome

There is a well-documented trap that many independent business owners fall into, called 'Shiny Object Syndrome'. The symptoms are familiar: switching platforms before fully committing to either, spending more time researching tools than using them, rebuilding the workflow instead of doing the work.

Convincing yourself that you'll only succeed when you've got all the right tools in the right place.

Regarding the kit share, it's essentially The Four Fears® playing out:

• I'll give it a go but I'll need to tinker with things until they're just right

• I'm not sure I can adapt to this... it feels too hard

• If I arrive early and go on later, can I spend a bit more time practising first?

• I'm going to play really badly tonight, I may as well accept that

Making a 'kit share' scenario work for you

The drummers who handle a kit share well are not the ones with the most technical ability. They are the ones who are so clear on what they are there to do, that the 'variables' become secondary to the music.

The same principle applies in business. The antidote to 'Shiny Object Syndrome' is not giving time, energy and emotion to the differences. It is being so clear on your core purpose, your audience, and the outcome you are there to create (i.e. the music), that 'whatever is in front of you' (and how you play it) does not interrupt the 'why' you are playing in the first place.

Which leads me to my final question

Are you so clear on what it is you do, who it serves, and why it matters, that you can always find a way to resolve the how?

Is your business 'kit share' ready?

If the answer feels less certain than you would like, the Business Bravery Quiz is a useful place to start. It takes four minutes, gives you a personalised clarity and bravery score, and shows you specifically where the gaps are between knowing what you want and having the confidence to act on it.

Tools will keep changing. New platforms will keep arriving. The kit will never be quite the setup you would have chosen (until you're the headliner... ;-)

But if you really know the song, you will always find a way to play it.

Mark Franklin is The Four Fears® Guy: a transformational mindset coach and speaker working with people who are building something of their own. He is also a pretty bloomin' good drummer.

Which tool have you been over-relying on recently when what you actually needed was more clarity? Drop it in the comments.