I want to tell you about a theme that’s come up multiple times with clients over the last few weeks: the third door, and why it matters.

First, let’s start with the normal OS (operating systems) you’ve tried in the past to attack any problem:

1. Plan it out. Execute the plan.
2. Just start doing. Fix it later.

These are the most common doors because the dots are easy for the brain to connect.

Door #1’s master is control.

Door #2’s master is speed.

There’s nothing wrong with either of them, but I found a better way for me: bumpers. It seems my clients are responding to it too.

The Third Door = Bumpers

One client was working on their onboarding for their new offer.

Another client was working on delegating more to the management staff so she could step away from the business a bit.

And I’m launching the main funnel for my business (not really a funnel, more like a web).

We all used bumpers as the third door.

Picture the bowling lane. As a business owner — hell, anything in life, really — if you can avoid the gutters without having to control every little piece, you’d take that.

Simply put, bumpers are boundaries that create freedom inside them. They stop people from straying from the mission or correct them quickly if they do.

Let’s take my client who’s doing their onboarding.

They do a lot of custom work. Which means, depending on the project, he’ll need different things in different orders.

He was using door #1: over-engineering.

This was going to result in a ton of various pathways he’d have to manage. I could picture a CRM or dashboard getting flooded with noise.

The bumper for him was straightforward…we called it IFTTT (if this, then that).

In one session, we went macro. If X happens, that triggers Y. If X doesn’t happen, Y doesn’t happen.

By the end of the session, he knew exactly what was universal, no matter the project, and what was dependent on IFTTT.

Once I laid out this perspective, he realized Door #1 was a ton more work than he needed.

Excellent.

Now, what about my client who is trusting her people and stepping away from her business more?

Well, first of all, three months ago, she struggled to trust her employees. Not because she didn’t like them, but because she was choosing Door #2 all the time.

Her employees would straight up forget about the instructions she gave or didn’t have enough reason to care.

She’s grown by leaps and bounds in the trust department because we do what I do with every client: get them to trust themselves first, and the rest follows.

So, she’s got two locations and is going to be stepping away from one. She’s used to coming back to this location after an absence and seeing a bunch of fires.

Bumpers will prevent that from happening. Here’s how:

She owns a restaurant, so she has a front-of-house manager and a back-of-house manager. She was already planning to give them raises and more responsibilities, which is a strong start.

Just one problem… evidence has shown that when she assigns a task without a reason, it doesn’t get done well or at all.

When are you meeting with them about the raise? I asked.

Tomorrow, she said.

Dope. Your current plan is a 1.0 improvement. I have a 2.0 recommendation that better fits the goal. Want to hear it?

I operated on this principle: When people believe it’s their idea, they’ll take more ownership of its execution.

Simply put, the meeting she was planning would no longer be the final one. Instead: Here’s what I see. Take a week. Tell me what you think would make this place absolutely hum without me. We’ll meet again and finalize your effort into something we all agree on.

I used to do this with my employees all the time. And while hers is still in process, I can tell you one of the most advanced moves you can do is place a standard (bumpers) that employees can freely operate in (rolling the ball down the lane any way they please).

And finally, let’s talk about the funnel I am currently launching.

As I said earlier, it’s a web really.

And it all hinges on the website.

I only work with 5-10 people a year. I’ll be increasing traffic to this site soon. It’ll get seen by thousands of people every quarter.

In this case, the principle is clear: your site should act like your #1 salesperson, and the bumpers should help people self-select.

Dope. Because I’m selective as hell about who I want to work with, I want the site to be the first line of defense rather than a coercion machine.

And stay with me, because this ties into the core theory I’m working on: Center Out. It goes like this…

Value (the center): Be 100% authentically me. What you see publicly is how I am privately.

Principle: Your site should be your #1 salesperson.

Strategy: Depth. If someone hasn’t spent at least an hour consuming my stuff, I have zero desire to pitch my service.

Tactic: Create a web that feels like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” way to binge and go deep.

So when someone comes to my stuff, they can consume it however they wish.

The bumpers are what I use to interlink it all, so they stay in the web but still feel free in it.

And if you look at the site, you’ll immediately see it accomplishes that.

​Take a look if you want.​

My audience is incredibly smart, self-starting, and knows what they want.

When they’re ready, the web will have done its job.

The only people who will get through it are those who have already spent over an hour with my work, like what I have to say, and want to learn more.

So, let’s go back to the picture of the bowling lane.

Without bumpers, you can chuck that ball down the lane and see no pins get knocked down.

Without a standard or boundary, there’s no control.

It’s a myth that bumpers are limiting. The point of bumpers is clarity, freedom, and better results.

People desperately want them; they don’t want micromanagement or watchdogging to the point where they have no agency or freedom. They want direction and you to trust them.

So, have bumpers, but let the person throw the ball down the lane however they want within them, so they always knock down some pins.

Some will throw it straight and fast. Some will curve it and make it fancy. Some will two-hand it like a baby. The bumpers ensure that, no matter the person’s style, they’ll get a result and feel free while they’re doing it.

If you’ve been stuck in Door #1 or Door #2 with your business, let me know, and I can take a look at your situation.

There’s always a third door. And bumpers are one of the best ways to take advantage.

See ya next week,

C