Like any good structure, the culture we live in is built upon a solid foundation and then is erected brick by brick. If the base foundation is formed on good principles, then each brick laid on top of the good foundation will erect a good culture. On the other hand, if the brick building is placed on top of poor principles, then the structure which is formed is jaded and will cause much hurt to those who exist inside of the culture.
Everyone is familiar with the term Job Description. It is that document which spells out the details of the tasks to be performed, the skills to perform those tasks and a variety of other elements to frame the job for the person filling the position. A challenge with a job description is that many that I read fall short in terms of defining for the person in the role exactly how their participation contributes to the organization. It is like the job description builds a box around the person and holds them to the confines of the box rather than inviting them into contributing to the organization’s future.
Each day regardless of what you do or where you hang out you are exposed to statements of this person or that individual being treated in a way that is dehumanizing. This challenge of disrespecting others is causing the gradual decay of our society and culture. Each of us have the responsibility to stop this from consuming our world around us. It first starts with respecting ourselves and then giving respect to each other in all situations.
As we launch into the second half of 2021, hopefully your organization has begun to find a new framework for moving forward. Some of the changes which caused pivots in the way we conducted business in 2020 will remain and still others will return to their previously executed way of being conducted. With 6 months of transactions under our belt, we can now take the time to evaluate what is working better and what may need our attention to pivot again to improve, innovate or just tweak to make it better.
Noise is all around us. Whether it be the physical rhythms of the bustling street to the digital blur of your smartphone, these is a never-ending stream of noise pushing in on our culture. All this noise is grabbing bits and pieces of our attention and manipulating it down one path or another. To find our best culture we need to take a break from the noise and let our mental and emotional inner being rest so that it can shine real light on being our best selves.
As we approach the 4th of July, let us all take a few minutes to ask ourselves the important question – what can I do to contribute to uniting our nation for the betterment of all humankind? Our forefathers left their homeland and sailed across the ocean with dreams of a better community to live in, to raise their families in, and to pass on to future generations. As we look at our nation during this holiday, let us ask ourselves how we can pass on a nation which we are immensely proud of to our future generations.
A summertime highlight is the smells and sounds of the 4th of July holiday. Regardless of venue, neighborhood, city, state, forest, campground, lake, parking lot and any number of other gathering places, we all celebrate the 4th of July with great eats, beverages, and music. The freedoms we enjoy are best expressed in celebrations of culture.
When I look at businesses, organizations, people who are making things happen, one word tends to recur in my mind – relentless. These entities and people are relentless on many levels. They are relentlessly optimistic. A failure does not set them back it educates them, and they push forward. They are relentlessly pursuing action. They take the steps others are either not willing to take or are over thinking if they should take them. They are relentless finding ways to be more effective and efficient. The status quo is not part of their vocabulary nor their day-to-day efforts.
It is easy to find the gloom and negativity which is pervasive in the digital world and various media platforms. Some days it seems that is all our world is about. Some rationalize it under the umbrella of news, yet others can take it to new lows under the guise of the end of civilization as we know it. STOP and use your senses to live. Breathe in the air, smell the roses, touch another human being’s hand, taste the sweetness of the nectar of fruit juice and hear the chirping of birds in trees. All of these stimulate the positive in our physical and emotional senses.
Any successful endeavor requires a team of people to pull it off. Whether you are a solopreneur or a multi-location mega business, it is never a one-person success show. It takes a variety of different talents orchestrated together in just a particular way that allows for the greatest outcomes. Unfortunately, organizations struggle with this concept of teams and success. They get it intellectually, but they do not necessarily execute it behaviorally.