This last month it seems the balance we strive for is seemingly further away.
As entrepreneurs we seek problems to solve and perhaps make some money and even change lives. The balance even at this fundamental level seems even more difficult after a chaotic national and international July. Have you noticed that there is an increasing tension between what I call the sustainable and the enduring balance? The balance that is between social and economic dividends. To many of us this is a paradox, how could you possibly have both? You can’t have both, you need to be either true to the social or true to the economic dividend.
There has been an effort, in some cases opportunistic rebranding, to move from not for profit, to social enterprise to social impact. If only we could put that effort into achieving this balance instead of restructuring, repositioning, relabelling and rebranding, a hell of a lot of ‘re’ going on!
So it looks like we are going to confuse the marketplace (the customers) again. We have just spent a lot of time, money and effort creating the hypothesis, testing it, asking questions, pivoting, iterating and creating minimum viable products and then we change OUR purpose. What is the best way for a customer to say no – confuse the hell out of them!
An expansive view will see that we need to quickly settle on our individual, community and professional balance. No, not that mysterious work, life, balance thing, that balance that all people are looking for in today’s markets. Someone, an organisation or even a government that simply stands for something, does what it says and no more; a place of equilibrium.
Everyone keeps saying let’s embrace change, after all that’s the cool thing to do and the cool place to be, really. If we look at some metrics that are not cool, say happiness, healthiness, safety and education, we are no where near equilibrium.
So come on, choose.
After all, Marcus Tullius Cicero said “More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of time. It will steal you blind.”