Let’s begin this week with a question for all you folks who like to ride horses. In fact, if you’ve ever been on a horse, you can probably try to answer it too. Here we go: on which side of the horse do we ALWAYS mount and dismount? Now that’s pretty simple, right? It’s the left side. In fact, you’ll almost always see the horse being led by someone on the left side as well. The real question is why, and that’s where things get interesting for your business.
No, there isn’t a physiological reason we do this. Most horses aren’t blind on their right sides so we’re not going to spook them. Basically, we mount from the left because it’s traditional. Unlike some traditions, this one has a practical reason for existing. Many of the people who rode horses hundred of years ago also were wearing swords, which were generally worn on a person’s left side so they could grab it with their right hand. If you tried to mount a horse from the right, the sword you wore on your left would get in the way, and no one wants to impale either themselves or their mount.
Those days of swords are long gone for most of us but the tradition of mounting from the left continues. Is there really anything preventing us from training a horse to accept mounts from the right side? Not really – we just don’t. That answer is probably applicable to something you’re doing in your business as well. Reports that get cranked out week after week or meetings that get held without fail. Maybe those things had a very good reason for existing when they began (maybe back in the days of swords!) but don’t really now.
The point is that we need to constantly be asking ourselves why things are the way that they are. Circumstances change constantly. Markets change and so do customer needs and preferences. It might just be time to ask yourself if it’s appropriate to try the right side, don’t you think?
Consult Keith 