The Danger of Breathing In Your Own Exhaust
I recently heard about the concept of “breathing your own exhaust”. It originates from author and entrepreneur Lisa Gansky.
It refers to when a person falls in love with their own creation, and therefore, does not have the ability to see or hear anything to the contrary. As Lisa Gansky puts it, “whatever comes out of your mouth is all you’re inhaling.”
It can be fatal.
It is no different than leaving a car running in a garage. The carbon monoxide will quickly overtake the oxygen, and those fumes are suffocating.
The same is true in business. Breathing in your own exhaust can be fatal.
It often occurs if you are isolated from others.
It’s easy to become a lone wolf, especially if you’re a consultant, a small business owner or an executive.
But isolation is possible in every job. Especially if you’re unwilling to embrace input, advice, coaching or professional development from those within and outside your business community.
In the past, I have fallen into this trap myself, continuing to use strategies and systems that I have always used. Yet, if I really looked at them, I would find some of them are inefficient, or downright irrelevant.
We all need fresh air from time to time.
To avoid breathing in your own exhaust, there are a few things you can do:
Talk to others. Start in-house. There are people who you know or work with that want your project, division, or company to be as successful as you do. Try bouncing ideas off them if you aren’t already doing so. It does require effort to build open and trusting relationships, but your outcomes will likely improve if you do.
Expand your network. Get input from an outsider. Talk to someone in another field. Or hire a consultant. This will help you and your team. Group think can occur if a team or partnership works very closely together. Getting a fresh perspective from a variety of areas will help you think of things you never considered.
Change your location. Literally and figuratively. My best ideas arrive when I get up out of my chair and take a walk. Or when I go on a trip. The physical act of moving my body surprisingly brings a new perspective. Other times new ideas come from an unrelated business or field, such as reading a book or listening to a podcast. By expanding my location in this sense, new ideas and perspectives abound.
Of course, newer does not mean better. But if you’re still in love with something you created a few years ago, it may be time to take a closer look at it and determine if it needs some fresh air.
If you’re not sure, ask.
Those fumes can be deadly.
