Addition By Subtractionstring(23) "Addition By Subtraction"
Sometimes, the best thing you can do is let go. My wife, Beth Misner, explained to me years ago that the way to grow healthy rose bushes is to prune them back. You will receive additional beautiful blooms on new growth stems by subtracting the number of old growth stems. So, how does this relate to BNI? The way to grow a healthy BNI chapter is to get rid of the members who don’t show up or don’t participate. BNI thrives on accountability. Therefore, one must also believe in addition by subtraction in order to get new growth in your chapter.
Like I said–sometimes, the best thing you can do is let go.
Let’s say you’re in a networking group and you have hit a plateau. You can remember a time when your group was on fire. When you all had passion and excitement and you couldn’t get to your meeting fast enough. Now, you all seem to have lost steam, and things just aren’t what they used to be. The referrals aren’t being generated, the 1-2-1’s are happening, and the group seems to groan a little every time the meeting begins. You want to regain the passion and help your network grow, but how?
If you want to add value to your group, you need to take away the things–or people–that are making it dysfunctional. It sounds counterintuitive, but if you want your network to grow, you may have to cut it back. Like I said–sometimes, the best thing you can do is let go.