The aim of this is piece is for me to describe my thinking on business as an entity in the world, why I see it as a vessel, and the implications of that.
Concept
I see the concept of a business as a vessel for an aim. I see a service or product as a developed idea which intervenes in the world and has impact, ideally the aim set out by the business. The aim for me is explicit, it is to improve the world in some way. It is not profit. I see profit as a rule of capitalism, something the business must do to survive. It’s like the liver, it’s important to keep it healthy, you can’t live without it, it produces energy and metabolism. But, it is not the aim. That is like saying the aim of the person is to produce energy and regulate blood sugar levels.
Why do I start with this? Because I think the reasons behind things are important, specifically when it comes to decision making. If you think of the business as a body, you understand the need for it to survive, to stay healthy and strong. You also understand that in a modern society, it needs meaning and direction. This gives fulfilment and gratification. In this way the business is a body of people with needs for survival, but also a deep need for fulfilment.
Depending on the environment and the health of the body, survival is more or less difficult to achieve. In a modern, well developed society, survival is less of an issue. There is an abundance of food. You do not need to grow and farm your own food. Shelter is readily available. Water is treated and provided. Modern society bypasses the need for survival by provisioning the basics. This can be the same in business. If you get an investor, capital or you can keep your survival needs low you can meet your survival needs. Basically if you can become sustainably profitable, you can meet your survival needs.
The issue with the basic requirements of bodies is that the required survival needs are much higher in a modern developed society. The expectation of a 4 bedroom house, a nice car, lunches and dinners out, and live entertainment as a need, means the definition of survival is much higher. In business this can be the same. Often businesses get lost in what a business needs to do to survive, the basic needs of each department accumulate and sum to a greater need than is actually necessary. The simplification of life expectations and business expectations with regard to survival can have a huge impact on the quality and ease of life.
Simplify
Lower your needs. Simplify everything. Everything you do needs to have impact, it needs to relate to the aim and add some value to the business. Understanding whether something adds value is easy, does it have an impact on the aim and how much? Ask yourself, can we do without this? If I remove this process or tool from the budget, what happens? What are the alternatives, is there an easy work around? Still unsure? Give it a score if you can’t measure it accurately. Which you won’t be able to do. Now compare things. Remove the bits that are not necessary. Keep pruning, always pruning and refining.
Adaptation
Running is an excellent activity to keep the body healthy. Resistance training is an excellent activity to keep the body healthy. Some people can be afraid to do either because they are afraid of pain, pain through embarrassment or pain through physical exertion. Adaptation is controlled pain over time. Slight pushing of the boundaries. Reduce the expectation of making big changes, instead concentrating on shorter term consistent improvements. This way the body adapts and you never experience a larger pain. But, you need to be comfortable with pain and change. If you want to improve your muscles and last the distance, you need to be willing to meet the pain and realise the benefits.
The wrong pain is when this is extended and the body receives no benefit and overall aim is not being moved toward. This is the same as in business. Pain over time equates to a negative to the body, to the whole. It is detrimental. You need to understand your body and your business. You need to know when the signal of pain is good and when it’s detrimental. These are often confused. Like a runner only running hard, never understanding the benefit of slow runs, and how it can improve oxygen use and glycogen stores. In business you see a lack of focus or misdirected approaches. Wasted energy on unimportant things that actually have a negative impact on the business. Always pruning, always refining.