Find Your Voice

Monday, June 20, 2011

The Busy Dead Man

There is nothing the busy man is less busied with than living; there is nothing harder to learn.  As I move through society I see that success is many times is a dual sword.  As many business people try to control and create prosperity they are unaware that they are actually kicking up dust to fake effectiveness.

The sad thing is that none of the followers in the organisations ever question this.  You see, though shalt not question the busyness for it creates meaning.  And the only guy that is creating meaning is the guy in charge.  Unfortunately in many companies the result is that there are many blind followers whose creativity is slowly killed off and their energy is depleted.  They are creating meaning because I do not want to question the guy that is creating work - fear!  In many instances therefore the end justifies the means.

It does not start out this way.  Many times I have been involved in businesses where people come in and truly want to apply all their creative energy and make a difference in their sphere of influence.  What happens next is truly sad.  The "boss" then starts giving orders to get them 'busy'.  The employee gets faced with questions like "are you busy enough?", "are you stretching yourself?"  Now I know that it is important to be stretched and get out of your comfort zone but the sad thing is that people really are seen as resources and therefore under the control of the "boss".

To calm down and start having conversations about what really matters from an inclusive approach means that life takes centre stage.  This is not easy.  I have personally been told that "if we don't run faster than our competitors and keep doing new things they will catch us".  Perhaps but if you are so busy with the unimportant and you ignore the valuable input and desires of the PEOPLE you work with you will fail even if you are running fast because you might be running fast towards a cliff.  Reality: If you are running away from something and simply keeping busy in order not to be caught you are sacrificing life which consists of joy, satisfaction and fulfilment (just look at two little guys in the picture).  You really want all that empty success where you miss the golden moments of relationship as you do business more meaningfully?  Get real with yourself!

If you are the boss and you are reading this please reflect on how you are treating the human beings in your organisation.  Are they doing enough and are they (and you) busy with the right stuff.  If you are an employee I challenge you to have the courageous conversation and confront the issue of busyness.  Even if it goes badly you will have stepped out - you owe it to yourself.

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