Hero image for a blog post about the LHGaba Analysis, a tool to help founders and CEOs reconnect with their passion for their business.

LHGaBa Analysis

Get back to loving the company you founded with the “La-Gaba” Analysis!

I’d like to share one of the tools I use to help founders and CEOs reignite the love of their business and reduce the stress it might be causing them. 

It’s been said that “if you do a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” I truly believe this! I personally do not want to work my life away – I’ve done 80 hour weeks with high stress and little pay founding two startups, now I’ve created a life where I’m doing what I want when I want, and yet I’m still sure I’ll be involved in entrepreneurship as long as I live – because I love the people, the challenges, and the creativity it requires – I love the “work”. Most entrepreneurs love getting out of bed every morning to drive hard towards their purpose – even those that become outrageously wealthy still fill their time “working” on projects that feed their passions!

Stop doing the things that take away from loving your company

Conversely I believe the opposite is true. If you toil on stuff or sell stuff you are not passionate about:  it is very hard to motivate yourself, those that follow your dream, or anyone that buys your products! 

As entrepreneurs we often take on burdens that we don’t actually need to for the good of the venture, but, for the good of the venture we probably shouldn’t. During the startup and early stages, this is because there is no one else to do the work (especially if you don’t have co-founders). 

Unfortunately, as we grow towards scale, I feel we retain some ill fitting responsibilities simply out of habit, or worse a form of morbid penance. I’ve been guilty of projecting myself onto people by not asking someone to do something because I didn’t like doing it. Afterwards, silently, I’d just go do the task myself (usually poorly) as if sheltering my team from work I found unpleasant in some way helped the cause. Next I’d be head down toiling in analysis paralysis instead of selling! It turns out in life people are different, and there are people that absolutely love doing things that you do not enjoy, and indeed may not like doing the things that you love. 

Love / Hate / Great at / Bad at (LHGaBa) Quadrant Analysis.

If you plan to succeed in the long road to business success, you need to give every task to someone that loves it! 

To this end I’ve come up with a simple exercise that every founder-CEO should do regularly in their company: truthfully filling out a “Love Doing – Great at Doing – Hate Doing – Bad at Doing quadrant chart” or “LHGaBa Analysis”. 

An informative image displaying the LHGaBa Analysis Quadrant, a practical tool for entrepreneurs to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and passions in their business.

You can download my template here, or make your own!

Step By Step Guide for using a LHGaBa Analysis

  • Step one – in the top left quadrant, list everything you Love doing that pertains to your venture. 
  • Step two – in the bottom left quadrant, list everything you are Good at doing (don’t worry if you duplicate some of the tasks from step one!)
  • Step three – in the top right quadrant, list everything you Hate doing – be brutally honest with yourself, this isn’t about what other people want or need or think about your skills. (don’t worry if there are duplicates from the great quadrant.) 
  • Step four – In the bottom right quadrant, list everything you are Bad at doing – again do not stress if there are duplicates in Love or Hate. 

Well done! Take a step back and look at the results, from a very high level you might think we just circle everything in the right hand column, make a job description and call it a day! But if we look more closely there could be some more elegant and also fulfilling solutions.

What if you are great at something you hate doing?

Look for items that connect diagonally across columns, what if you love something but are bad at it? Or are great at something that you hate doing?

An informative image showcasing the LHGaBa Analysis Quadrant outcomes and how to analyze diagonal connections to optimize task management.

Using the template above (page two of the download) to fill out the second page.

  • If you Love but are Bad at: get yourself training or coaching or hire.
  • If you Hate but are Great at: coach an employee or co-founder (if they love it) or hire someone who does.
  • If you Love and are Great at it: keep it!
  • If you Hate and are Bad at: let go and hire!
An insightful image illustrating the LHGaBa Analysis Quadrant outcomes, guiding entrepreneurs on how to effectively manage tasks based on their skills and preferences.

Final Thoughts

When you start a company by yourself or with a small group of co-founders, you bring skill sets that enable the company to succeed. Some of these skills are natural to you, and some are developed over time and out of necessity. A founder is by nature a jack of all trades and a master of none. A small group of founders can luckily be more focussed on their gifts.

Once you move from startup to scale, you have the power to create the job of your dreams, use my LHGaBa Analysis to do what you love!

If you make it through the startup phase to product market fit, check out my Business Growth Consulting practice.

If you landed on LHBaGa Analysis page first, consider starting at the Prologue: Ehh?

Want to Read More?

If you make it through the startup phase to product market fit, check out my Business Growth Consulting practice.

If you landed on LHBaGa Analysis page first, consider starting at the Prologue: Ehh?

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About Me

Hi, I’m a founder-CEO with 20 years of experience growing companies, building relationships, imagining the future, and creating new things. I started my entrepreneurial journey in 2002 when I founded my first company, creating visual effects for Hollywood TV shows, where I won an Emmy for ‘Lost’ and received four nominations.

In 2010, I founded an aerospace and defense technology startup and led the company through unbridled naivety, survival, bootstrap, dogged resilience, and scaling. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to sit on numerous boards and round tables comprising diverse companies, communities, people, and points of view. I’ve successfully sold to Hollywood giants like SyFy, Fox, ABC, and Disney,  to aerospace leaders such as Boeing, Lockheed, and Babcock, as well as the Canadian government, securing multi-year multi-million dollar contracts.

Now, my mission is to help fellow founder-CEOs by bringing proven strategies and customizable playbooks into their businesses. I coach them on building a solid team and executing their plans while focusing on what they love to do, ensuring their business thrives. My coaching expertise lies in strategy, business development, B2B & B2G, marketing, sales, and creative problem-solving. I’m here to help you get your business working for you, not the other way around!

Awards

1 Emmy, 4 Nominations, News Maker of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Team of the Year, Tech Company of the Year, Top 5 Moments in Television History (Lost – Pilot), 4 Time Top 75 Defence Company

Achievements

TEDx TalkFuckUp Night Talk, Host of Western Innovation Forum, Trade Show Panelist, and Speaker.

Boards

Victoria Innovation, Advanced Technology & Entrepreneurship Council (VIATEC) Western Canadian Defence Industry Association (WCDIA), The Alternative Board (TAB), Vancouver Island Aviation Association (VIAA)

Hobbies

Painting, Running, Sailing, Hiking, Camping, Traveling, Reading, Cooking.

Great Books

Scaling Up, Unfuck Yourself, Good to Great, Everything is Fucked, The Untethered Soul. How to Sell an Elephant

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