Finding the balance.

At the park near my house, there is one sideways-slanted-doughnut-like-fixture that can spin in a circle. My partner and kids will gleefully jump on the edge and balance themselves precariously as it spins, sometimes adding to this display by walking around as it twirls beneath their feet. I usually refuse to join them. For them it's an adrenaline rush, some sort of fun experience. For me, it's another place I need to practice my balance. Between being a business owner, Executive Director of Boulder Pride, mother, partner, and plain old human being, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the many priorities that I wake up to each day. There are the usual tricks and tips people offer you, make plans, set priorities, cut down on your activities and they are all good advice. But when it really hits me, after I eat significant amounts of chocolate, I focus on what's really important. I am not here to be busy, I am here to enjoy my life. And letting myself get overwhelmed simply takes my focus from accomplishing my tasks to feeling badly.

So next time we go to the park, I'll join them in the spinning.

The Problem With Perfection

I take issue with the idea that there is a "right" way to to business. There are a LOT of ways to do business, and many of them are successful. Sure, I dislike some of those methods, but that doesn't mean they are ineffective. I was recently reading a book which created a Utopian office as its setting. This office was perfect, it was fun, and profitable, and everyone loved working there, and everyone was paid well, and everyone got a long and they created new ways to handle conflict, and everything was perfect. And really, that's just not helpful.

I like the idea of innovative thought. I relish the chance to meet business owners who want to do things differently, because I myself am a creature of change. But I do not hold with the idea that you can make anything perfect. I do not believe that the training I provide to companies will make them free of conflict or issue. Utopia cannot exist, and this is from the mouth of an optimist. Trying to achieve such a standard creates a false horizon. We're expecting people to achieve something that is outside reality.

There will be work required to get our work done. Or it wouldn't be work. Some of that work may be distasteful, or unfulfilling in certain aspects. The challenge to me is not to try to eliminate that work, because in some instances, that is not feasible. The challenge is to make the most of it each time. The challenge is to understand that our environment is not perfect, and there are a number of things out of our control, but those that are within our control can be whatever we want them to be.

We can control our own choices, and we feel better when we make a choice to do something rather than have it thrust upon us. It is not an easy thing to do, but when my boss tells me that I HAVE TO do a specific project, I try to remind myself that I am making the decision to do this. I could tell my boss "No". I could refuse to to the project, that might in turn lead to me losing my job, but the choice is still mine. And when the jobs I am being asked to do become more distasteful than the prospect of finding a new job, then I will make that choice too. As I have done in the past.

Utopia may just be a fantasy, but I can make the place I live and work, a place of MY choosing.

Change is the only constant...

He speaks yet I do not hear.
What I hear he does not speak.
The message is wrong.
He's insincere.
He sounds just like her.

She rambles on my voice mail.
She sends empty essays to my inbox.
The message is wrong.
She's insincere.
Her words, to me, are stale.

Everyday I hear these cheers.
Everyday I am disappointed.
The message is wrong.
They're insincere.
They've been saying the same for years.

Someday I will believe again.
Someday I will have faith.
A message that's true.
A message, sincere.
Someone with visions of change.

-Timuri

I wrote this piece back in February of 2003 while I was sitting in a "very important" meeting at Xerox. The words being spoken just were not penetrating my head, mainly because they were the same words I had heard at every other "important" meeting for years.

What happened to the people who wanted to make a difference? When I was hired with the company we watched videos about the visionaries that started it all off. The desire to create new and useful technology that would alter the business world. I spent the next few years being told not to rock the boat. Quit trying to change the business. Why? Isn't that what made us a great company in the beginning?

I worked at it for close to a decade and realized that I was fighting a war from the wrong side. The change I wanted to see happen was possible, but I needed to be in a different position to accomplish it. There is a great line from Utah Phillips, in his piece "Korea" he says, "I realized right then, that it was all wrong. That it all had to change. And that change had to start with me." So here I am, now armed with ideas and concepts that can and will change the businesses and people they touch.

Revolution destroys what is. I am not interested in this. But I am a fan of evolution, of embracing the changes that are happening around us. The challenge before me now, is finding those visionaries that want to see their businesses and people change in this way.

Does Fun Have a Place in Business?

It's hard to know if you are actually doing the right thing. Starting this business with the idea of bringing more fun into the work environment sounded great when I wasn't actually taking any risks. However, now that it has actually started I began to worry. Will people really want this? Honestly, probably not, people are often adverse to change and especially change for their business, add in the idea of "fun" and they are likely to go running. Do people need this? Well, I certainly think so. While I was teaching at Xerox it was easy to see the difference in morale and production between environments that had fun and those that didn't. But do other people even know that they need this? Perhaps not. We don't really talk about fun being an important aspect of business. We don't train our MBAs to have fun. Maybe I should just pack this all in and try something else....

Then I came across an article by a business man who has been making money for himself and many others since the early 60's. And he's been doing it while having fun:

"I discovered at the time that the more fun the customers were having, the less they were concerned about how much they were paying for the tab. Our customers were having so much fun that they did not even notice when we raised prices. My focus was always on how we could make this even more fun."

Jack Fecker is a creative entrepreneur well-known for his ability to bring out the best in individuals, and their business. His article on How to Bring the FUN Into Growing Your Business is something that reminded me of the practical value regarding the work I am doing. Fun is important, I believe that. Fun is an important part of business to keep the morale and personal satisfaction of employees where it needs to be. But fun is also valuable to the bottom line. The stakeholders and investors of the world should be just as concerned when fun is not a part of the package they are investing in. Listen to Mr. Fecker and ask yourself, "How do I make my business so much FUN that my employees...and customers, can’t wait for Monday morning?”