Final Verdict: Big is Bad

For quite some time I have thought about big vs. small - as in big business vs. small business.

I have now reviewed all the evidence, heard all testimony and have reached a verdict: Big business is bad.  Yip, you heard me - big business is bad.  Before you decide to stop reading and read that other guy's blog about financial derivatives I would like to review the case with you.

I have had the opportunity to work with large businesses and also with small and there is something in the small business with a big heart that is not there in a big business with a small heart.  

What I'm getting at is that big business should not be defined by turnover, profit, number of people, etc.  Big business should rather be defined by the desire of the leaders and owners in the business to build something of great value for the rest of society on a large scale.  The other view is when the owners of a small business see their organisation and purpose through the eyes of social benefit and not for profit primarily - BIG heart!

This point of view is what truly differentiates big from small.  So, it comes down to a paradox: In order to have a big impact you need to think small.  Small not in terms of revenue, market capitalisation or stock price, but small in terms of not missing out on the detail of staying true to purpose.  I have personally been part of organisational growth and corporate buyouts and the obvious pattern is one where there is a desire to become bigger it is ultimately driven by quarterly numbers - "BIG"!

Bottom line: Once the desire to do good is substituted for a desire to have more we all loose.  It is the story behind the shift in the global economic landscape, and perhaps a good time for it to happen.  It is a shift in the dominant global paradigm happening right now.  This is a complex, interesting and challenging world and I am happy to be alive.

So, I am calling to leaders and owners of businesses everywhere - will you simply survive from quarter to quarter or will you truly live.

Go from survive to alive!

2015 and the Best is Yet to Come!

This will be an incredible year!

How can I be sure?  Simple - I am alive and the opportunities ahead are simply staggering.  What do you see when you look at this year?  What are your hopes and dreams for yourself and the world around you?  How will you contribute and add value in 2015?

It doesn't matter where you are in the world, all of us have a simple choice:  Will you look for the best in everyone around you or will you only see the worst.  You will find what you look for.

Go from survive to alive!

The 'Why' of Work (part 2)

A few weeks ago I wrote the first part of my view on the 'why' of work.  And then I got busy at work...  I also paused for a moment and took a break by the ocean.  This has given me time to reflect on the 'why' of work with greater depth.

Through the lens of Connectedness work is viewed from the contribution and purpose perspective as indicated in my earlier post.  As I get excited about the changing world of work and the incorporation of greater purpose in many businesses globally I have to remind myself that part of Connectedness is a world view of abundance and not scarcity, patience rather than haste:

“By the time it came to the edge of the Forest, the stream had grown up, so that it was almost a river, and, being grown-up, it did not run and jump and sparkle along as it used to do when it was younger, but moved more slowly. For it knew now where it was going, and it said to itself, “There is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” But all the little streams higher up in the Forest went this way and that, quickly, eagerly, having so much to find out before it was too late.” ― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner

I look around me at the world rushing forward being pursued by a great beast of fear.  We are afraid we won't have enough time, money, love or accomplishment - we are afraid we won't be enough.

As I sat looking out over the ocean a few weeks ago I realised that this world is in motion and it is a force far greater than I can ever dream of controlling.  I find that what I do not know I want to control, I also see it many other people and specifically 'leaders' and managers.  As the quote above illustrates, we will get where we have to go; I will get where I have to go.  I cannot live in the future at the expense of the present.  Letting go is beautiful!

The 'why' of work is about us, about here, about now and doing whatever is here and now.  It is about trust.  It is trust based on a world view that in the end we will be okay.  If it is not okay it is not the end.

So today I call to all that feel that the burden of ambition is driving a wedge between you and those you care for, between you and the parts of yourself that you do not know yet and in fact creating a self-defeating drive yearning for an unidentified emptiness.  Stop running.  Breathe slowly and start living, here and now.

Go from survive to alive.  

Hmmmm

This is some writing on stuff. It may make sense on certain levels or plains depending on your paradigmatic orientation towards a multiverse reality. On the other hand it could be complete nonsense. The fact of the matter however is that in the broader spectrum of things nothing really matters. Although things have known to matter dearly to those who care about things that matter.

I justly therefore ask what is the matter. Where is the beauty? Where is the monkey that whistles a Monet as beautifully as I dance the freed cave captive. Don't worry this is not suppose to make sense except for the meditative purpose of questioning stuff.
What stuff? Well your stuff off-course. Ultimately we only have our own stuff... don't you? I therefore propose that we reflect on what it is that we really need. What stuff is necessary?

I respectfully and specifically challenge those who are in the busyness of business - those who are driving the engines of industry.  Entrepreneurs, CEO's, managers and leaders.  You who helped entangle all of us in the relentless speed of nothingness.  The pervasive beauty of creativity is the all-encompassing delight of those who persevere unto the transcendental reality (which doesn't really exist for those caught in complexity).
I'm sorry, I mean how do you pull on the strings of infinity and eternity to make the fleeting moment permanent?  Yes, in business!  Don't pretend like you don't know what I am talking about.

We look for it everyday and hunger for it more and more.  We know it is there but we spend so much time on the stuff that is served up that the real food is overlooked.  If you don't understand this then you haven't begun to ask: your self?  Go ahead ask: my self?  Who is this really?  Who am I being?  Am I real?  I therefore submit to you that the business person has no right to do business until he/she has found someone to do business for!

Business is the reality of our society, our faults, our beauty and delight.  Don't switch off the lights.  Get a message and get out there.  Do something that will make people talk, smile and look for the good in others.  Come with me and look at the beautiful connections between everything.  Be part of the connections, find your place, your voice and go from survive to alive!

What a Year!

I don't know about you but 2012 was truly a significant year!  Even though my mind wants to tell me that I need to lose faith in many things I cannot deny that my heart says something completely different.  So I guess this is where you expect me to tell you that I went with my heart... Not exactly.

Even though I have continued on my journey I am definitely changed after a year of constant challenge, great disappointments and ultimately massive life breakthroughs.  After a number of years in the business world I have come to the great insight that it is primarily not for me.  I'm not saying that I am not interested in it but I am in fact not suppose to be active in the business world on a permanent basis.  I have great passion for it, love to study it and help people reflect on it and their role in it but I am not interested in becoming a, how did Nicholas Nassim Taleb say: "corporate slave with "work ethics" (whenever I hear work ethics I interpret inefficient mediocrity)".

I'll gladly earn less but live meaningfully at a slower, more reflective pace.  After going through a period in the last year of ultimate reduction of identity I can say that it was not easy or pleasant but truly necessary.

I am now experiencing synthesis and do not entertain the tyranny of the or.  I am not following my heart or my head but instead follow them both.  I can now see how an unrealistic view of myself had me trapped and how a deeper understanding of myself is based on dynamics rather than homeostasis.  In other words, I am constantly changing and the product of the complex relationships that I am part of.  There is perhaps less in my control and less that I have to achieve.  I am rather inclined to proceed intuitively but use my mind to understand what I have done and how my intuition operates.  Perhaps it is a little like what the Oracle tells Neo in The Matrix Reloaded: "...you didn't come here to make the choice, you've already made it. You're here to try to understand why you made it."  I believe we actually make many choices that is actually subconscious and by coming to understand our choices we could perhaps help to influence the subconscious in the future.

I am looking forward to 2013 where I know that I will make choices that are intuitive and then reflect on them cognitively afterward.  I know that this is my pattern and rather than be someone I am not I can now embrace this pattern as my own and find and give joy through the use of my gifts.  This journey ultimately leads to the annihilation of my fears through the fulfillment of my greatest desires but it has been a difficult journey to get to the place of self-knowledge that is a source of peace.

So, no new-years resolutions or new initiatives.  No new targets or projects.  Only life to the full!

Dream vs Security

On my journey I am continuously challenged by different opportunities.  I dream of freedom, creativity and simplicity.  As I dream I look around me to see what needs to be done practically.  I am continuously aware of the tension between the dreams in my heart and the requirements of living a life that is secure.  Secure, that's a nice word.  What the bleep is it anyway... Security!?  Is it freedom from danger, risk, etc. as the dictionary tells you?  Is it something that we put on to make us feel better - a little like an expensive coat?  A coat that can be taken away at any moment...

Why does it look like if you choose security you sacrifice your dreams?  I see so many people that have settled for security or have faced the choice of taking greater risks and have chosen to settle for something secure.  I personally also know people that have taken risks and have then burnt their fingers trying a new venture.  The result is that they then choose a more secure option for the future.  Can you blame them?  You have to start thinking of the kids, education costs, retirement...  The list is endless.  The basic cost of a decent standard of living is rather ridiculous.  Have you ever been in a situation where you look at what's left of your salary/income after deductions for medical aid, cars, house and a few other basics and thought to yourself: "How on earth is this possible?"

I am an idealist, iconoclast, dreamer and believer!  I want to see the small guy win.  I hunger to see a world that really cares but still gets things done.  I hope to find many more inspiring leaders just around the corner.  I see the future for others as they themselves can't even see it yet.
In all this I have to find peace in tension.  Tension between the dream and security.  Tension between action and rest.  Tension between fatalism and free will.  Aaaagh!  Man this is really frustrating... And actually very exciting.  It is not just one thing.  Not boring.  In actual fact the challenge is beautiful.  The way I see it is that if I can get a little more comfortable with change I can be so much more - BE, NOT DO!

I guess this is why I try stuff.

Measure by Growth

What do you measure by? Results are important but many times results come much later like fruit on a tree or grapes on a vine.
Many times in the past I have looked back when it seems like I am heading in the wrong direction and asked my parents if they think I have made a mistake.  The answer that I mostly got was: "No, because we can see how much you have grown".
Perhaps they are looking at results but it is results on a continuum.  In other words the result is me being more mature yet knowing that it is the next step on the journey that I have achieved, not a destination or final measurable result.

My current season really reflects such a phase.  I know that I have grown tremendously in the last year and have come to accept myself as I am more than ever before.  I am making peace with where I am and have come to greater insight regarding ambition.  I see ambition as the driving and destructive force behind our current global condition.  Think about what ambition - the desire to achieve, stand out and be something, has done to our world and communities.  Never before have we been so ambitious in our goals and never before have we wreaked such havoc on our planet.  Inequality is greater than ever and even though we have made major advances that contribute to our standard of living we are no happier than 50 years ago.

I believe that it is ambition that drives a meaningless pursuit after our own, predominantly instant, gratification.  We have polarised our societies into those that are rushing forward at a reckless pace and those that seek greater meaning and purpose in what they do.  I don't think this divide will ever change but hopefully more and more people can meet in the middle where we engage one another in work that centers on love, money and meaning.  I don't think we have to settle for the tyranny of the 'or'.  It does not have to be about money or love; why not both?

What I do make a case against is the domination of our ambition that blindly leads us over the precipice into the abyss.  Ambition that looks at monetary results and ignore the growth of individuals and communities.  Ambition that ignores the growth required to make things more sustainable and full of life.

So what are we measuring?  What is the result we are looking for, and more importantly, who do we have to be to realise our dream?

The Change Conundrum

You really think you can change stuff?  No, I mean really?  All those wonderful attempts that, you make to be the wonderful, amazing person that actually wins the Nobel peace prize - what is it for?  I think we think too much of what we can actually change and completely miss the point of what needs to change.

Deep rooted change lies within yourself.  The first thing that needs to change is the way I see the world.  Once this has taken root I can change the way I approach the world.  If there is one thing that I have been learning in the last while it is that my power, ideas, creativity, etc. is not as much as I think it is.  Where I truly shine is where no-one sees me.  It is the deep work of the soul.  It is the work that gets done when no-one is looking and that I don't get rewarded or recognised for in the traditional public spheres.

I know however I have done this work and that I am successful when my wife looks me in the eye and can say that after a tough time together she loves me even more than before.  I know I have done the work when I hold my little boy and I am not in a rush to get anything else done but just hold him and be in his space.

Seriously, do we really think that building that company or building, making great profit, saving the world or bring great illumination is going to do anything if we have not made those changes inside ourselves?  There really is nothing new under the sun but it is very interesting how easily we forget the lessons history has taught us.  It is as if every generation wants to go and find out for themselves.  Every generation wants to go and scratch that itch for itself but then never stops scratching.  Peace and contentment are fleeting ideas of some other esoteric religious sect, not something close to our hearts or even in it.

The problem is not out there I realise.  It is in here with me.

The Gifts of Pain

In my previous post I spoke about the challenges that I am going through in terms of physical pain.  I would like to follow-up with the gifts of pain.  In the last year and a half I have been brought to my knees, literally and figuratively, and even though I would never want to go through this again I believe that we are given the opportunity to claim who we really are when we are in pain or go through periods of suffering.

Through the tears, anger and deep disappointment I have to look myself in the eye and see a man that has to be brave due to circumstances.  I now realise that being brave is actually not something that I want to do.  My idea of the hero that is so brave has blown away with the wind.  Being brave means that you have to dig in where it hurts; it means you have to do stuff you really don't want to do, again and again and again until your energy is depleted and you feel like crawling into a little ball and die.

It is here though that I have the choice to get up again through the pain, tears and pills and just focus on the next ten minutes or hour.  Ignore the fear of having to this for an indeterminate time.  What I am saying is that the character that is being built, the faith that is being developed and the relationships that are being strengthened is invaluable.  They are gifts of pain.

I don't want to be sore.  I don't want to be weak.  I do however have to face myself, let my ego be trimmed and my will be shaped so that I can be here and have peace with who I am no matter what I do or how I look.  All that is not necessary is being challenged and removed.  It is another gift that is accompanied by pain.

Today I fight to smile.  Today I look for the beautiful.  Today I cry.  Today I recognise the opportunity to live.  Today I welcome peace and joy.  Today I welcome the gifts of pain.

A Bit of Silence and A Lot of Reflection

I haven't posted anything in the last two weeks or so.  Since the beginning of the year I have been very consistent and did not miss a week.  Over the last few weeks however I have gone into my shell and have been quite silent.  In the silence I have been reflecting a lot, looking at how things 'hang together' and hence I now write this post as a result of it.

Have you ever gone into times when it seems like the world is disconnected from your reality?  A time when other people speak a language you don't understand; it even seems like their lips are moving but what they are saying is completely senseless or even in some cases completely void of any sound.  I have just gone through about three weeks of that.  During these three weeks I have also been rather emotional.  I am not normally very emotional.  In fact, I am quite left brain and can control my emotions masterly.  It has not been like that over the last few weeks.  Now something has to really shift in order for me to embrace deep underlying emotions the way I have.

A number of things have in fact flowed together to bring about this waterfall of reflection, transformation and emotion.  The big thing that I don't normally talk about is my physical condition.  As I have an auto-immune condition where my immune system gets bored and then attacks the healthy tendons where they connect to the joints.  This causes severe pain, stiffness and fatigue.  Some mornings I don't even feel like getting out of bed - literally!  I sit on the side of the bed breathe deeply and attempt to get onto my feet, ankles and knees that simply fold away under me when I get up.  It sometimes takes a few tries before I get moving.  The mornings are difficult but fortunately it gets a bit better later in the afternoon.  The catch is that I have a limb length discrepancy - big words for saying that my right leg is 7mm shorter than my left.  Add a bit of inflammation to the problem and voila my hip rotates out of position every now and then.  In order to combat this I have to do my stretches and core exercises religiously.  All of this takes quite a bit of time and energy.

I am also six months into a new job and through all of the change and adaptation I have come to see where my real value lies.  Accordingly I am taking up my studies with great vigour.  Perhaps my original plans of using this blog as a source of income and creating more freedom in this way will still happen later on.  The reality is that I have learned that the values that I identified earlier; freedom, creativity and simplicity are as relevant now as ever before.  The difference is how it is applied.  Freedom of thought, ideas and reasoning; creativity of life in every regard - in the house, relationships, work and artistic expression and finally simplicity which is reflected in focus and reduction - use what I need and recognise the difference between need and want.

As I navigate this part of my journey I long for the deeper parts of what I am created for and know that it will take a combination of steady action, trust and patience in order to bring about a sense of wholeness that has eluded me for far too long.

Where are you on your journey?  What are you learning?  How are you moving from survive to alive?

Moment of Truth

I just had a moment of truth ...A grand realisation that perhaps I really am that different and special.  Perhaps I truly should be challenging the status quo, not by creating my own status quo but by tearing down captivity and building foundations of freedom.  I continue to have conversations with people that seem truly open minded but with some more investigation I realise that they might have adopted language that 'keeps them on the edge' but that their approach and expectation of life still very much resembles the industrial revolution - top down, hierarchical, unilateral, etc.  It will work for a little longer but the world is a different place today...

What I have come to realise is that the tool of control has served us (modern society in general) rather well over the last century or so.  The challenge now is that control is no longer as useful as it once was.  The scientific approach to business management was all about that.  The leader was the one who controlled, knew everything and was infallible.  That kind of leadership will pass soon and only businesses and leaders that embrace connection, trust and complexity will last.

This is the next step.  Leaders must become facilitators in order to trust the organisation's future to everyone involved.  Yet few people are willing to push for this kind of change.  What is much more likely is that people stick to their old ways, ways that are not so threatening, in order to keep their position of power.  I have seen this very often in the business environment.  Due to different influences people don't want to change and most of the time right at the centre of it all sits some kind of fear.

I don't think that my mind or abilities are that special or different but I do believe that they are geared towards a specific purpose to which I need to pay more attention.  I know that through my efforts on this blog, academic talents and abilities to write, facilitate and teach I can devote my life to a great passion for change.  It is a gift-set, passion and awareness that few other people share and because of that I am excited.  Within that lies my unique contribution and realising it has really been a moment of truth for me; a little like when the winemaker gets to taste the grapes of the season for the first time. In that instance everything that has led up to that moment, every element comes together to reveal the special character of that season.  It helps me to go from survive to alive.