Bruce Holland
A confession
A long time ago I went to university to learn how to knit. I spent many years using the economic and accounting skills I learned to knit an almost perfect jersey. It was patterned on elements like never-ending growth, change, material wealth and accountant’s profit. It was awesome. It fitted almost perfectly and was extremely comfortable. I felt very proud of it.
Then about 25 years ago I noticed a loose thread. Although I knew I shouldn’t, I felt compelled to pull at the thread. The loose thread was a concern that the whole thing was unsustainable. Soon the whole jersey unravelled and it was just a pile of wool on the floor.
At first I was appalled that my life’s work had come undone so quickly and easily; but then I realised that I still had the wool. Since then I have been busy re-knitting the wool into a more resilient jersey, patterned on sustainable elements like human energy, love, truth and beauty all of which are abundant, sustainable and actually expand as they are used.
Twenty five years ago, I really believed that the ‘hard’ and ‘logical’ side of business was what mattered most. I saw it as all that was necessary for growing and progressing.
I now think I was wrong. Part of it was young man's arrogance and ego. As I've got older and wiser I've come to realise that far more important than fixed assets and capital, the things I was taught to measure and manage, are the ‘soft’ and ‘magic’ sides of business.
Interestingly, as scientists have developed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) they have found that many of these ‘soft’ sides of business have real, hard, measurable affects. For example data gathered by measuring brain activity suggest the same primal responses that drive us towards food and away from predators are triggered by our perception of the way we are treated by other people.
The long-term benefit.
These are uneasy times. The world is changing and is increasingly uncertain and precarious. People are buffeted by forces they can no longer hide from. A friend of mine demonstrated this beautifully. He took a piece of paper and screwed it into a tight ball, then he partly opened it up to show lots of creases and folds. He said: "This is the way the world used to be. There were lots of places you could hide and survive quite well." Then he flattened all the folds and said: "This is the way it is today. We are all open to forces from all around the world and there is nowhere anyone can hide anymore." When people know who they are, what they can do best and why they are here, they have far more personal control. They can't be pushed all over the place by other people. Like the explorers of old they can follow their 'Southern Cross'.
The very survival of many businesses is at stake. Established truths no longer hold. Assumptions based on unlimited growth of finite resources are crumbling. We have built nearly everything we believe in business on the story that growth can continue ad infinitum. Earth scientists and mathematicians know that this is nonsense.
A confession
A long time ago I went to university to learn how to knit. I spent many years using the economic and accounting skills I learned to knit an almost perfect jersey. It was patterned on elements like never-ending growth, change, material wealth and accountant’s profit. It was awesome. It fitted almost perfectly and was extremely comfortable. I felt very proud of it.
Then about 25 years ago I noticed a loose thread. Although I knew I shouldn’t, I felt compelled to pull at the thread. The loose thread was a concern that the whole thing was unsustainable. Soon the whole jersey unravelled and it was just a pile of wool on the floor.
At first I was appalled that my life’s work had come undone so quickly and easily; but then I realised that I still had the wool. Since then I have been busy re-knitting the wool into a more resilient jersey, patterned on sustainable elements like human energy, love, truth and beauty all of which are abundant, sustainable and actually expand as they are used.
Twenty five years ago, I really believed that the ‘hard’ and ‘logical’ side of business was what mattered most. I saw it as all that was necessary for growing and progressing.
I now think I was wrong. Part of it was young man's arrogance and ego. As I've got older and wiser I've come to realise that far more important than fixed assets and capital, the things I was taught to measure and manage, are the ‘soft’ and ‘magic’ sides of business.
Interestingly, as scientists have developed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) they have found that many of these ‘soft’ sides of business have real, hard, measurable affects. For example data gathered by measuring brain activity suggest the same primal responses that drive us towards food and away from predators are triggered by our perception of the way we are treated by other people.
The long-term benefit.
These are uneasy times. The world is changing and is increasingly uncertain and precarious. People are buffeted by forces they can no longer hide from. A friend of mine demonstrated this beautifully. He took a piece of paper and screwed it into a tight ball, then he partly opened it up to show lots of creases and folds. He said: "This is the way the world used to be. There were lots of places you could hide and survive quite well." Then he flattened all the folds and said: "This is the way it is today. We are all open to forces from all around the world and there is nowhere anyone can hide anymore." When people know who they are, what they can do best and why they are here, they have far more personal control. They can't be pushed all over the place by other people. Like the explorers of old they can follow their 'Southern Cross'.
The very survival of many businesses is at stake. Established truths no longer hold. Assumptions based on unlimited growth of finite resources are crumbling. We have built nearly everything we believe in business on the story that growth can continue ad infinitum. Earth scientists and mathematicians know that this is nonsense.
Contact
Email: Bruce.Holland@CrackingGreatLeaders.com
Phone: +6421 620 456
Phone: +6421 620 456