I will have to admit that we have departments at home. I do most of the fixing and outdoor work, while she does most of the shopping and pet related stuff. Not that either of us couldn’t do the other stuff if necessary. Still, the “oh I could never” needs to go away and there are so many learning resources available today that were never there in the past. There is no excuse to avoid learning these things, even just for context and appreciation for the specialization that it takes to do some things properly.
I treat some family organizational things like business and some business relationships as if they are parenting. Not because it is the right way to do it but there are common similarities. In the context of things we don’t enjoy doing, you have 3 choices as a business leader. Delegate it, automate it or eliminate it. Looks like you delegated the electricity bill (because it is near impossible to eliminate it) and that didn’t go well. The timing is just bad on the supply/demand side of things which is an exception to the norm, which should also be accounted for when considering risk.
Either way, lessons could be learned from this misstep and carried over into the next time you have to decide between eliminate, automate or delegate! ;)
Absolutely and, when one inevitably can't do it, like through illness or other. When it comes to finance, it allows for both people in the relationship to be part of the decision making process.
delegation rarely works for me. If it is something worth doing, do it well. Delegating to someone who isn't interested enough to do it well, means I have to do it anyway - just at a greater cost.
That is a good way to look at it though! At work, I am trying to automate some processes in the organization to save time and effort for people whose time can be better spent doing their real job. It is fun, but I also get pushback on it, because in order to automate, there has to be common processes in place and many don't want to have to be confined. It is always a tradeoff.
Process is a special kind of business discipline and worth every moment spent defining and refining. Culture either kills it or proves it can handle a scaling up if not.
Also, running a family like business doesn't work very well either. ;)