A different look at organizations, teams and ourselves. A few lines I hope will help to change
We all have a personal brand. It is a mix of what we tell or sell about ourselves, what we promise, what we do, what we care about, what we finally deliver and our answer or reaction when things get a bit tough.
Consistency, always in search of improvement and a solid market expansion should be the basis of our brand.
As kids, we would spend the whole day at the beach, building a sandcastle, so high that it would reach the sky. One step after another. But, it could take only a wave, or just one absent-minded person to make the structure collapse. So then, you would have to rebuild it from the remaining ruins or start over the whole structure.
It can be exhausting as kids, and as grown-ups when you try to progress and the sand slips beneath your feet. But, lets start over, once again. That’s what resilience is about.
Book + Training + Practice this is how some of us have learnt to learn. But life does not come with a manual, there is no book to check on, no teacher, no trial and error process and we can only do our best. Not being sure if the answer it is correct, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Not having the perfect solution doesn’t mean we have failed.
We should not put on hold trying neither not punish ourselves if it did not go the way we imagined the first time. There will be more. We just need to try again, harder, more focused and aware of what worked and what did not.
Just do not push anything away just because you need to learn the perfect way first, it might be too late or you will might have to rush and it will not be even good enough to go.
The world has changed, so if we want to continue learning from it, we need to look at it through a different glass. Stop watching is not the answer. Still, keep it simple. Always.
I had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving day many years ago in the States. It dates back in 1621, when the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Native Americans shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.
Nowadays, it is the perfect occasion for families to sit together have a nice dinner. But, it gives us the occasion to be thankful for all the wonderful things that have happened throughout the year. This year has been bumpy and long but despite that and because of that there are many reasons to be grateful and many people to give thanks to. Beloved ones are safe (maybe a bit bored… but safe) and busy. Plenty of opportunities and new adventures have challenged myself and my inner circle, important reconnections were made… It might not look like a lot, but it is, specially this year.
Finally, let me be grateful to (hope not to miss anyone) Ervy, Josep, Anna, Enric, Pablo, Marc, Luis, David, Ana, Javi, Manu, Maria, Esther, German, Nuno, Nuri, Elena, Susana, Fernando, Esteban, Natalia, Antonia, Maria, Montserrat, Josep, Albert, Sonia, Joan, Montse, Jordi, Adria, MCarme, Marta, Paquita, Daniel, Eric, Eli, Marie, Eve, David, Mariano, Manuel, Carmelo, Antonio, Ignacio for having played an important role in this year’s adventure (no matter how :-))
It is not what I meant, I am sorry if you felt that way, … Many times we feel we need to apologize as our message did not reach the way we expected the receiver. Conversations can mislead to confusion, sometimes misunderstandings about what we wanted end up in a non desired conclusion.
This gets even worse when we move to online or so called digital channels when speed is at our service, but at the same time it becomes our worst enemy. We need to be more cautious, thoughtful. What is that we want to do? Take more time to write what we want to be our message, think twice about who will be on the other side and try to imagine in what mood will our words be caught.
Social etiquette for online communication is different and there is a huge need to learn how to behave. But, there is no one who is a master on it, most of us we learn as we walk.
In the digital era, it is simple and easy to say but harder to retrieve our words. Think twice before you write.
“The Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast”. Peter Drucker.
Corporate culture is defined as: “the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions”.
So, in the end, everything comes to people, teams and individuals. Each with its own roadmap, goals, but with a common sharing of beliefs and behaviors. But, together they are who run the business and usual, who face challenges and who will have to execute any strategy that can be designed.
As employee you need to understand your company’s culture. If you are new, in order to fit. If you are already part of the crew, it will help you to understand the way to reach your goals, why you have the feeling there is something not right or make you realized that it is not your place, you don’t fit.
As a company you can have designed the best strategy or requested for the most disruptive solutions, that if the teams have not changed, implementation will be pretty hard to achieve and proposals will not be too original. So, the company has to be aware of what kind of culture is in place.
You want to do different as a company? You need to change the way your staff behaves, or change the staff who behaves in a specific way. If this does not happen majority imposes their own way: Change proposals are always the same with different names, part of the staff is in discomfort.
Changing corporate culture it is not easy, it takes time, willingness, effort and commitment from the management team as they who will lead the transformation.
Thanks for the nice chats with awesome people that reminds me that some things never or change or the only thing that change is the name or label.
When someone else has already walked a path, it’s easy to feel tempted by the opportunity to take what was done, and rewrite it, give our style, flavor and that is it. But it is all about the details why, when in what circumstances was the exercise performed, what was the motivation behind those words?
Sometimes it is easier to start from scratch so you can tell the story with your own words, rather than trying to reuse what someone else did. As good as it can be, it might not serve your purpose, tell your story what you want to be heard.
This morning on my weekly running, I came across a girl who was staring at her bike. Apparently she was having a hard time with its chains.
On my way back, she was still in the same position, staring, same angle, same look on her face and not trying anything ay all…
We can get stuck when trying to solve a problem and stare at it for a while. After that, we need to change our visual angle, try at least something (even if it might not work), or ask for help. Probably, there will be someone who knows how it can be fixed, have different approach or at least a slight idea of where to start from.
Staring at something for ages, not even changing the way we are trying to solve it, will not make it solve by itself, will not disappear. Magic does not exist it is made to happen.
We have a limited amount of time during the day. We need to provide food for ourselves, have restorative sleep, … If we want to make our relationships worthwhile, we need to dedicate them, time. The more is invested in relationships, the less can be dedicate to all the rest of the activities. So, on the long run, the outcome of social relationships must be equal or higher than their costs.
When increasing the number of people we interact with, or the number of different contexts where this can happen, the individual‘s contacts get impacted. We have less energy and availability to devote to our previous contacts and what used to be a pleasant interaction, it can easily turn into occasional and superficial. If we make a cost-benefit analysis, we will come up with the conclusion, that something needs to be left behind. The deepness and close tights of some of our relationships, or some “worthless” interactions.
Sociability and basic needs must be balanced. Our choice. Always. We can not have time for everything. Balance is our mantra.
A million plans ahead, a million words you would like to say or have said, 1,000,000 moments you would like to spend among friends and/or family, books to read, conversations to have, projects to start, ideas to develop, places to visit, adventures to live, minutes needed to reset, kisses and hugs to be given, …
I ”should” is a multiplier towards incomplete lives. Do not let time just go by. Remove it from your day to day, start small, one thing at a time. Enjoy it, try it, do your best, maybe it won’t excel but you will have tried.
Put one million attempts behind (Achieved or not), lead the things you want to happen. Be grateful with those who love you and you love, as they probably made the first move when you couldn’t.
There were one million topics I wanted to write about, but I felt it would be nice to close the summer with this.
Thanks for new old moments, for keeping it simple, for coming along.
Road to improvement 