She’ll be right.  I love this Australian saying.

I’ll never forget when I first heard it.  I was a very green American just off the plane in Sydney almost 20 years ago.  I asked someone if they wanted a hand lifting a bag and I got the response ‘She’ll be right mate.’

I had no idea who ‘she’ was, and even less of an idea of why that mattered to the situation.

After I heard it a few more times I gathered an understanding and then started using this expression to fit in myself.  I’ve since become Australian-ised.

What I’ve learned over the last 20 years is that this saying is the source of a ridiculous number of poor decisions every day in business.  This saying has an energy attached to it that promotes apathy and a lack of attention to detail.  Both of these will kill your business.

In recruiting it’s the idea of ‘throw shit at the wall and see what sticks.’  Three to six months later your advertising again because that person didn’t work out.

Or in finance, it’s not paying attention to detail and understanding your reports in order to make financial decisions.  Next thing you know the bookkeeper has walked off with $50,00 (or 1.5 mil over a few years), or you’ve overspent because you thought you had more than you did.

When you hear yourself say ‘She’ll Be Right’ make sure you ask yourself what detail you are not paying attention to.

It can mean the difference between being in business and being in bankruptcy.

And yes, I speak from experience.  Too many of them.

Mike Irving