Sorry but I won’t work with you

We all talk about values in our organisation, but how often do we use them to turn work away?

I was writing up a business plan for a start-up and following conventional advice, I was defining who the target audience was. I was nailing down a good description when it hit me. For an authentically purposeful business, it’s just as important to have a clear description of who we wouldn’t engage with.

I’m not talking about a waffley statement that remains hidden in the business plan to make us feel good. I’m not talking about a rule that is set in concrete – unless the offer is really enticing.

It should be a statement or description that is:

Up-front, clear and public so all prospective clients can see it.

Based on real values so it’s non-negotiable.

A commitment made to your customers that you value them for what they are doing, not just the dollars they pay you.

Lastly it is a statement of faith in yourself. A clear line in the sand that you know you will not cross – and why not crossing it is important to you.

I won’t go into the points I listed but for me, the over-riding premise was summed up by “I will not sell my soul by enabling anyone to damage our communities”

Surely one advantage of being in business is the ability to work with others who share your passions and values – and not just any jerk with money.

What a brilliant idea!

I came across this social enterprise and thought it was an absolutely brilliant concept.

Recycling not only needs to use (often) large amounts of energy, it is also becoming increasingly problematic as supply out strips demand for the finished products. It’s great we all put plastics out for recycling but if they end up sitting in huge stock piles, or worse the land fill, it’s really just virtue signaling on our part.

Reusing material is a much more sustainable concept and here we have a collective that’s doing there bit to educate us all on how we can jump onboard.

Check it out… The Recreators

Maybe we need a physicist to solve our social issues…

“If you have one hour to save the world, how would you spend that hour?” He replied, “I would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and then five minutes solving it.”

This quote has been attributed to Einstein and, assuming it was him who said it, he makes a very valid point – one we should be applying to social issues just as much as it’s applied to science.

Community organisations are great at meeting immediate needs such as providing food parcels. They then try to alleviate the issue longer term with education and support. We know education levels, employment, housing etc are contributing factors but do we really know why these issues continue?

Mental health issues seem to be increasing. Our health system provides drugs and intensive support while community groups are out there supporting at the coal face. Are these issues really increasing (as opposed to being more known) and if so why?

The answers that get trotted out are often ‘easy’, trendy and not really fully to the root cause. Again an Einstein quote is apt “What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right”.

We seem to be a species of problem reactors not problem analysts. Perhaps the answers really lie in science…

Why “The Optimistic Cynic” ?

Optimistic by nature, cynical by experience.

People often ask me why I use the name “The Optimistic Cynic”. The simple answer is ‘the name picked me’ but here is what it really means for me:

  • I’m a passionate believer that people basically want to do good. It’s not always easy but with the right support, values and information I know we can do more.
  • I know we can overcome just about every obstacle life throws in our way. Together we can be resilient, adaptable and creative.
  • There’s beauty all around us, sometimes we just need to be reminded where to look.
  • Life isn’t a fairy tale though. We need to be strong, question what’s around us and be pragmatic. As the man said, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
  • ‘Yes, but…’ is a legitimate tool to test our thinking, we need our devil advocates.
  • The optimist needs a cynic, and the cynic needs an optimist. Ying and yang working together.

I latched onto this name from my experiences with the disability sector and it grew from there. We have so much potential to provide everyone with a great life but when systems control us, innovation dies out. People believe in equality but don’t always treat people equally. Disability has taught me that we can always do better.

No going back

“There’s no going back to the old normal.

Innovation, agility, resilience, and a lot of hard work will be required to build our new economy on a more sustainable basis post-Covid19. The people with experience doing this are entrepreneurs, and it’s never been more important to encourage and support entrepreneurial activity.”

Join us in helping entrepreneurs succeed: read and share the Entrepreneurship Manifesto and talk about it with people who can make change happen!

https://genglobal.org/new-zealand/manifesto

and now for something different…

Bustle’s view on a cynical optimist…

You’re that person who has genuine faith in humanity, but also wants to cut the next jerk who jumps in front of you at a subway turnstile.

You want to bake humanity a cake full of rainbows and butterflies, and occasionally you want to take that same cake and smoosh someone in the face with it.

You have smiled at babies and flipped off cab drivers in the same breath.

Basically, you’re a cynical optimist — two sides of humanity’s coin, half hopeful, half jaded, all confused.

13 Struggles Of Being A Cynical Optimist (bustle.com)

Of course I’m the opposite of all this – as an optimistic cynic…

Smarter?

I recently saw an article about New Year work resolutions and one section of this was about finding a new career.

Amongst the advice was a suggestion that you should develop career goals and formulate an action plan. The authors then included the SMARTER system as something that could help with creating objectives.

Specific           Be as clear as you can and avoid ambiguous statements.

Measurable    Quantify what you must achieve.

Achievable     Motivate yourself but also keep your goals reachable.

Realistic          Be reasonable and keep your goals attainable so progress is achievable.

Timely             Create timeframes for completing steps.

Empowering Ensure your goals feel right for you and help you make the changes you want.

Reviewable    Keep your goals flexible so you can adjust to changing situations.

I’m happy to say that my goals simply don’t comply with this system. In fact, I can proudly attest to the fact that they fail completely when reviewed against it. To be fair, they are more than just career goals but they are what will drive and guide all of my career decisions.

I want the world to be a better place. I can’t describe it and I certainly can’t measure it.

This goal not only motivates me, it passionately drives me – but I don’t pretend that it’s achievable for me.

Is it realistic? Hell yes – but not in my life-time. How’s that for a timeframe!

How my goal looks and how I get there is absolutely flexible and reviewable. The goal itself is not!

I have blogged before about having a fuzzy vision. I can’t tell you how to get to my island but if I work hard, my island may find me.

Powerless

Sometimes you feel so powerless that you just want to rant.

Last night I saw the end of Police 10-7 and the story of yet another sexual assault on a young woman.

These low lives make up such a small percentage of men but there’s enough of them that you can’t blame women for including all of us as ‘the problem’.

I know it’s not fair, but I’ve always told my daughters not to walk alone at night (not that they need telling). People may think I’m odd but I will always proactively offer to walk a woman home/to the station/wherever if they’re leaving an event alone at night (obviously only those that know me – for those that don’t I try and suggest someone else) – even though it shouldn’t be necessary.

If I’m walking at night and see a woman by herself, I will cross the road or ensure I keep my distance so I don’t freak her out.

I don’t know anyone who has shown an attitude towards women that they would even consider assaulting one (of course most wouldn’t show it).

Women tend not to want men discussing this with them – they are the victims and we are the perpetrators. “Not all men” simply doesn’t cut it.

So I do what I can but at the end of the day, it’s nothing. We have this big problem with men, but as a man I also feel so powerless to help.

This sort of topic isn’t what this blog is for, and it’s not an attempt to deflect from the victims. It’s simply a vent for my frustration.

We can send people to space and split an atom we can’t even see – but we can’t stop ferals walking our streets!