Business ignorance or arrogance? Are you enabling or disablng custom and repeat business?
• Hotel Location convenient ✓
• Hotel Name ✓
• Full Meeting Room facilities advertised ✓
The story quickly enters a downward spiral when Apple MAC computer is not able to be linked to the LCD hardware for a customer’s presentation. The response from the hotel staff:
• We only have guests with Microsoft computers here.
What a great way to disable your business and your customers! Rather, why not enable business success with three simple steps!
• Invite future users to be a part of the design phase of your product or service
• Offer incentives for the user to frequently interact with your product or service
• Make it easy for the user to provide feedback – no forms, no ‘go to website’ but rather ‘then and there’, connect and elicit feedback personally.
Negative word of mouth, no repeat business and inconvenience to all for the price of 30USD – the cost of one Apple MAC LCD connection cable – business cents or business sense?
Many a time, a person can pour their heart out, expecting answers-on-demand. It’s as if there’s to be an exchange of ‘something’ within a conditional environment. It’s as if an invisible equal-value-swap exists in unwritten terms.
Many of us would recognize these scenarios. A person who’s been feeling stuck yet pushing it to one side in denial. A leader who fervently disagrees with the priorities in the workplace, yet due to needing the money simply endures the conditions. Another who yearns to realize a dream yet lives to external validation and belief that the dream cannot possibly exist in reality. And the list goes on!
Unfortunately, these people rarely, if ever, voice their dilemma for fear of being vulnerable. The truth may be ridiculed, labeled, shared and even judged – which often occurs when surrounding ourselves with people who prioritize ridicule, labels and judgement.
If and when they do pluck up the courage to share, a common reaction is as if the secret is out, so I may as well demand an answer. The veil has been lifted, so in return or as some form of compensation, I need to know how to move forward – and now!
This common expectation is the norm for those living in a world of payment, a world of here’s the cash and where’s the product. Another name for it could be ‘a world of instant gratification’, a world where some form of exchange controls the outcome.
How could life be different?
Lift the veil voluntarily with no expectations other than to ‘feel the difference’. High risk – yes! What’s the alternative – being stuck, settling for second best for the rest of your life? Reveal the truth and provide yourself time to decide which reactions you respect and which you don’t. Be your own dream without any input from others and connect to its outcomes. How will it be different? It will be hugely different:
It will take time! No instant gratifications will exist, yet the return on investment will reap huge benefits. There will be no answer today
for the question ‘what should I do?’
It will take you to places and spaces never ventured before! Some
will be a pleasant change and some may touch nerves not so pleasantly. Afterall, when we live in the money-payment system, we pay to go to places we’ve never been before – this time, it will be all for free; now there’s a bonus! You’ll find no guidelines to answer the question ‘What should I do’, but rather you’ll most likely finding yourself doing what feels great, and probably not touch that which doesn’t. You’ll make the decisions yourself and allow yourself the time to do that which is aligned to your needs.
Life will gradually unfold into clarity. When you notice a strong reaction, it will be indicating a positive or negative against a previously unrecognized
set of values or priorities. You’ll start honouring these and understanding what it means to walk away from that which no longer serves. You’ll find you’ll start moving slowly away from those who shun your dream or desire as your own internal confidence in that dream or desire will be strengthening day by day!
‘What should I do’ will one day be replaced by ‘what should I be’?
‘What should I be’ will one day be replaced by ‘what do I want to be’?
When you find yourself ‘being that being’, you’ll sit back and watch the doing happen automatically. ‘So what should I do’ will slowly fade into
oblivion, and when it does, you’ll know you truly have connected to the way it’s meant to be!
Nothing is going right! Blockages seem to appear at every angle you turn. Three questions may be worth exploring:
Is the answer in the question?
Is the question in the challenge?
Is the challenge an insight to the answer?
Is the answer in the question? Take the question – why am I so unhappy? The question is grammatically asking you for reasons, yet the answer is also hidden well! Unhappiness is a state of being and to be in a state of ‘not unhappy’, we need to become happy! It’s as easy as that! Know what makes you happy and align your actions away from the outcome of unhappiness to an outcome that provides happiness.
Is the question in the challenge? So what is the question? A question implies that choice is ready to be taken. Challenge suggests change or improvement will occur soon. So what choice will be taken when facing the change? Will you be a victim of the change or victor of the change?
Is the challenge an insight to the answer? What challenges us indicates a need to change. There’s your answer – change to an aligned action.
We are often so busy that we simply forget what it is like to stop doing! What are the consequences of human doing and what are the benefits of human being? Why not consider these 4 tips to help you ‘convert’ – if in fact you see the need!
A human being knows that which it wishes ‘to be’. It exists in a connected world – one that is connected without technology! It aligns easily and simply is.
A human doing is too busy to be, it simply is doing! It works hard at doing, and even harder to keep doing, until it recognizes that doing is never completed yet cannot recognize why!
A human being ensures that any energy, activity and focus will serve – most likely serve a purpose or the state of being. It wont be wasting activity by doing for the sake of doing which will move the entity away from ‘being’.
A human doing serves activity and momentum! The activity simply serves the activity, so the activity never moves forward – it happily keeps doing whilst treading water!
A human being has no need for priorities as priorities simply fall into place for themselves. Planning, resourcing and organizing give way to happening!
A human doing exists from lists, from ‘what if I forget’, from ‘must keep going’, from ‘cant stop now’, fearing what to do if in fact the energy ever ran out!
A human being feels good, relaxed, happy, in comfort, calm and focused with no effort to be so! It has no challenge with ‘what is’ as ‘what is’ is ‘what is’!
A human doing cannot sit still, looks always ahead or behind, forever building backup plans and provides answers to the questions asked!
Day One – Day Three:
One holiday maker in Thailand from Country X and two holiday makers in Thailand from Country Y enjoyed getting to know each other, sharing lots of laughs and experiences
Day Four:
The two observed the other at the pool noting some body markings, and instantly remarked ‘We shouldn’t be speaking to you!’
Much debate ensued for an hour and all agreed that we’re all human beings, and that we shouldn’t let this societal belief stop us from enjoying each other’s company
Day Seven:
They departed, after gifting each other their country’s music as a memory of a very special, yet not often, breakthrough from labels!
What can our world learn from this?
What are the prerequisites for this to occur?
‘Got nothing to do’? Those words still resonate in my ears, as strongly as the shock which jolted me from connection to disconnection in the office all those years ago.
My manager had walked past my office, seeing me staring out the window into the tropical palms below!
Unbeknownst to him, so much was happening ‘behind the scenes’! I was so connected to ‘something’ – I really didn’t know what it was back then, yet the effect was amazing! So many ideas were simply flowing to me, and none of them seemed unlikely or impossible. Something deep within was effortlessly handing me answers to our corporate situation, and it felt so right.
And the sad thing was – that connection seemed lost forever upon his ‘dedicated intervention’.
What is the role of reflection in today’s business?
What in your corporate environment encourages reflection time?
What rubbish do you need to clear to allow intuition to serve you?
And then I saw it! Surely that couldn’t be comfortable, but gee it looked great! Go on, try it on….as my foot became enveloped into a world of comfort, cushioning and safety, I wondered how this was possible in a shoe that challenges the tallest building in the world!
As the secret emerged, my business mind was racing off – if they can find such opportunity, what may I be missing?
The secret? Adidas, so famous for comfort and safety qualities in sport shoes has teamed up with Rockport! Standard, everyday business shoes now display sport-innersole technology with comfort and support. Two successful businesses in their own right have demonstrated such great business acumen by collaborating for a genuine win-win. Adidas has a whole new market to share its sport-sole technology and Rockport stand to sell many more shoes due to great comfort levels!
To where could this lead? Baby carseats in airplanes? Plastic bubble-wrap in linings of handbags? Perhaps its not that new afterall as velcrose has replaced buckles on shoes and buttons on boardshorts! Either way, the business case for collaboration keeps on keeping on! What opportunity could we ourselves be missing?
'the enablist' takes enabling to heart! We support the micro-finance practices of kiva.org for entrepreneurs from developing countries. Not only are we proud to see real results, but also we know we are empowering sustainable and ethical business practices.
Follow Us!