How to lose all that extra weight in 2025

By guest columnist Tom Hayes

"Nature abhors a vacuum." -Aristotle

When we bought our house in 2011, it came with something I had never had before—a barn that was built at the turn of the twentieth century. Not a big red barn, but what is known as a carriage barn. With a little hayloft, decent sized room for equipment on the main floor and in the walk-out basement with two horse stalls, two cow stanchions and a cold room hanging meat. Needless to say, none of these amenities will be used for their intended use while we own the house.

What is it used for now? Well, the quickest answer is that it is filled with junk my kids will have to throw away when I die. Need a left-handed tree straightener? Lacrosse goalie stick? Old skis of every assortment, but few actual pairs? Light bulbs that don’t light on one side? A vintage, dorm room stereo with original beer stains intact? And a plethora of items my kids swear they will need again some day. But it all works because I hardly ever go in there, so everything is out of sight.

It is amazing how easily our businesses become like my barn: filled with equipment, office space, furniture, processes, traditions, ill-conceived cultural norms, unprofitable clients and under-utilized people that we swear we will need one day, but actually didn’t need last year and don’t have immediate plans for using next year.

Many of these things are simply a drain on the income statement. But others cost us little financially to retain, yet they create such psychic clutter that they distract us from the people, tools and clients that help us fulfill our mission.

Take only what you need; then cut it in half.
-Backpacker’s credo

While the chasm that was the pandemic was a nightmare, it did realign my tiny brain cells in a few ways. Now it is true that much of the housecleaning we did was because of financial changes in the market, but there was a significant intentionality around having what we need for the future, not some magical return of the past.

Inner-city schools were the beneficiaries of a huge number of desks and chairs. We moved to an office that still gave us a place to gather, but was right for the modern reality of virtual work. We looked at our processes and trimmed them down to what allowed us to quickly respond to client requests. With fewer people working late in the office and fewer clients coming into our offices, bundt pans, martini glasses and full sets of dishware were either donated or recycled. And a gaggle of staplers flew off to a land where they still use paper.

I even had to reconsider one of my most cherished possessions: the fish-netted, glowing Leg Lamp from the classic movie A Christmas Story and its crate stamped “FRAGILE” but

pronounced Fra-Gee-Le. So why did that have to go? When it was first gifted to me it was a wry cultural artifact that came from a charming movie. Now, I imagined a woman who has never seen the movie coming into my office for an interview, seeing the leg lamp and then assigning me to the creep pile. If you have to explain a joke, it’s not a joke.

Most importantly, we narrowed the aperture of how we served clients. By focusing on strategy and totemic creative, we approached the market with a clear purpose and passion.

So how can your business decide what will serve you well in 2025, and what is merely added weight that slows down your progress forward?

Did it help you in 2024? In my case there were objects and processes that didn’t do a thing for us the previous year other than tell me I had lots of stuff so I must be successful.

Know what you will need in 2025. Decisions become a lot easier when we know where we are going. A backpacker doesn’t need warm boots for a desert hike.

Is it an anchor or wings? Will it hold you back or accelerate your journey to being a better company or leader?

If you were bought, what would the new owners get rid of? Sometimes our unrecognized attachments keep us from doing the right thing. Sometimes, we spend a good deal of money on something or someone and are hoping, beyond hope, that our decision will be vindicated.

For all of you who have been kind enough to read my musings over these past few months, I wish you a lighter, brighter 2025.

About Tom Hayes
Tom and his team at Riley Hayes have been Creating with Joy since 1991. Tom is also a speaker and coauthor of Relevance: Matter More. Connect with Tom at thayes@rileyhayes.com. 

Views expressed by guest columnist reflect those of the author and not the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.