A lot of people dream of starting their own business but don’t. They do their homework, study successful enterprises, watch videos, listen to podcasts, and devour the latest self-help books. All in the hope of finding the secret sauce and the courage to jump. The expectation is that the method, money, and moment will appear as an open door, and all they’ll have to do is jump in. No doubt that does happen . . . sometimes. But mostly, it doesn’t.

Most successful businesses have a dubious start.

A deep failure. A personal loss. Often, in our tech world of innovation, a flawed or misunderstood vision is driven by an insanely obsessed person, much like the deranged medieval soothsayer spouting visions from the future. We dismiss them until we don’t. Then, years later, we read about their sudden success. Sudden to us. A lifetime of pain for them.

You see this most often with musicians and actors. No one realizes the pain and disappointment that came well before they emerged. Maybe we’re not supposed to because it would reinforce the truth every successful business professional knows: “If I had known, I probably wouldn’t have done it.”

Here’s the truth.

There is a right way to start a business and a wrong way. The right way requires a business plan, a SWOT analysis, and some well-thought-out financial planning. All good stuff. But funny enough, the wrong way often works even better.

That’s the question we should ask. Why do we read so many stories about people with no money, expertise, and little time launching and building a successful business? Is it because it’s so dramatic that it stands out? Or is it because, as the elder philosophers have always said, “Necessity is the mother of invention”? I’m going with that.

Before we get into this blog’s “wrong way” list, you knew it was coming, let’s define necessity when starting a business. 

3 necessities when starting a business

• First, assess your capabilities for pressure, stress, risk, and failure. I was in denial, thinking I could handle them all before starting our company. 
• Second, find your ‘why.’ Mine was, I couldn’t work for someone else. I did into my early thirties, gaining skills and knowledge. But my future required freedom. I’m thankful this one won out through the tough moments. 
• Third, the ability to learn and grow, along with a commitment to service, is necessary. Maybe that’s just me.

So with that, here’s my list for doing it the wrong way:

10 steps for doing it the “wrong” way

1. Just do it.

There is no perfect time. I lost my job in 1989. The economy was in distress. We had two babies in the house, had no money, and needed to replace my income within 30 days. I didn’t have time to write a business plan. I needed an idea that would allow me to “sell” something that could be provided immediately. I decided to do video and audio production. I had some experience, but not much.

2. Find a customer

Instead of worrying about your company name, stationary, business cards, and brand, find a customer. This meant getting meetings with business people. My search began with businesses I read about that were moving fast in expanding markets. My logic, they had to move fast, like me.

3. Ask the essential question: What do they need?

Funny enough, when you focus on their problems and needs, they don’t tend to ask about your experience. They need solvers. Be that person.

4. Stand out.

Talk radio was prominent in the 80s/90s. So, I approached the weakest radio station in San Francisco and convinced them to put me on the air. I did this to get interviews with prospects by creating a daily business show that profiled local business leaders. I became a journalist. I had an excuse for reaching out that satisfied their need for exposure.

5. Energy begets energy.

I adopted my wife and co-founder’s idea that more is better. I over-scheduled every day to meet potential customers. It wasn’t about carefully scoping them or doing research. It was about creating noise, the feeling of action. I discovered the art of “eliminate no’s to find the yes.”

6. Leverage technology.

In 1989, we only had pagers, answering services, and the expensive Motorola “brick” mobile phone. Those were my only investments. I made sure I could reach people, and they could reach me.

7. Get the pricing right.

I learned an important lesson from our first corporate customer. She was the head of sales enablement for a booming technology company called ASK Computers.She asked me to price a project I’d committed to. Sitting there with my statement of work, she slides a blank piece of paper across her desk and says, “Now write a price down that will make me your most important customer forever.” I doubled it. Very soon after, it became clear that my original price would have destroyed me. I got it wrong. An important lesson learned. Your customer is your most significant source of wisdom. Tap into it often.

8. Prepare yourself for the tough times.

You will have dry months—many of them. You will lose an important deal. You or your team will seriously mess up a project, costing you more than you’re billing. Resilience is the key. I remember waking up one morning in the early years of our business in serious short-term debt with no clear path forward. Once I got through the initial panic, I realized no one was going to kill me. I just needed to keep going. “Work the problem,” as we learned from the movies Apollo 13 and The Martian. It’s true in business, too.

9. Reflect.

In your spare time . . . yes, you will have it and it will scare you. Focus on what’s working, what’s not, your brand, vision, and the narrative. Who are you, what do you do, and why does it matter? Answering these questions is the foundation of your business. Don’t rush it. Let it form naturally around real customers doing meaningful work.

10. Get started.

Stop talking about it. Stop thinking about it. Imagine yourself at 70 years old. Ask that old you, “Should I create a business now?” Then really listen. Quantum mechanics is real. The answer will come.

It’s not for everyone.

I’ll stop there and end with this. Everyone can’t work for themselves or start a business. Imagine if everyone did. Who would be left to support visionary founders and build successful businesses? As a co-founder, I am indebted to the people working in our business. And I’ve come to deeply respect those who do the essential rhythmic work of corporate scaling. We need both.

But if you have a constant voice that keeps you up at night, scares you, and challenges you to take the leap, listen to it. Then, accept failure as a probable outcome. As the philosophers often say, “Better to fail than not to have tried at all.” Get to it.

Still curious about starting a business and being a founder? Check out SNP’s podcast, Think Like A Founder, hosted by SNP’s own CEO and co-founder, Maureen Taylor.

The post The Myth of the Leap appeared first on SNP Communications.

This generation has had its challenges with fear.

Some real. Some not so much. I won’t jump to the judgments – left versus right – but you know the list; ISIS/Al Qaeda attacks, Russian/Chinese cyber disruptions of elections and power grids, global warming, pandemics, urban crime, and all the political investments in “not letting a good crisis go to waste.” And, of course, we have the media to thank for incessantly broadcasting all of this fear into our living rooms and social media for the never-ending hyper stream into our purses and pockets.

And now, here comes AI.

Add it to our list of something to fear as if we needed more. But AI is different, they say. Great minds of our time warn us that this could end mankind. “No, seriously, this time, we mean it,” they say in high-pitched hyperbole.

The facts are scary. They warn of machines that can process the world’s knowledge faster than humans. Then teach themselves to process that knowledge into discoveries in science, math, computing power, and so much more. Machines that could teach themselves how to manage mankind. And ultimately decide mankind is no longer needed or wanted. Then all human support systems, banking, internet connectivity, power, heat/air, food production, travel, and everything we depend on are turned off. The end.

I remember in March 2020, as I frantically packed up my London flat to catch one of the last flights from London back to New York City, this thought came to mind, to be repeated often during the Covid emergency; There are some things worse than death. I was careful not to say it too loudly and not in rooms that would immediately thrust me into the right versus left debate accusing me of being one of those people. 

Should we be mindful of the downside of AI?

Of course. We should ask questions. Push back. Educate ourselves and others. But fear? Maybe not. It only distorts our ability to make good decisions and negatively impacts how AI eventually lands on mankind. Yep, we have work to do.

AI came up during a walk and talk in Central Park this morning with a young female founder. She’s in the music business. She asked, “Should I fight it or jump fully in?” Before I answered, we talked about Napster’s disruption of the music industry and the Apple Computer story of 1000 songs in our pocket. I then asked whether fighting AI or embracing it would best impact the result for herself and her clients. She thought momentarily, then said wisely, “I guess I need to jump fully in.” I nodded, “Yep.”

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself

President Roosevelt’s challenge at the beginning of WW2 comes to mind, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” I’m not saying that AI doesn’t have its risks. But fearing it doesn’t help. Best to jump in and help guide it to its promise of a better world. Our generation’s promise to ourselves and . . . “Wait, what am I saying?” My rational, fear-ridden brain yells as I finish typing this little blog. “We’ve screwed everything else up. Why should this be any different?” On second thought, maybe a little fear might help after all. Just a little. Back to work.

–end

The post AI: Just One More Thing To Fear appeared first on SNP Communications.

In this latest blog Renn Vara, SNP Co-Founder, recaps his conversation with the CTO of a Berlin based startup and what leaders are talking about in 2023 and the changes he wants to make.

Rethinking our behavior.

I’m not a fan of making resolutions. I subscribe to the idea that it’s just another promise destined to be broken. But I like how this transition, supported by a nice vacation, can force us to rethink our behavior, dreams, and commitments. 

Recently I was on a call with a founder. He’s the CTO for a Berlin-based unicorn. Unicorn in the European sense. They are on the radar with lots of public interest and strong funding but short of the billion-dollar level measured here in the States.

On our first video call of 2023 he said to me, “I know we’ve been working on this for some time, but I’ve decided to really listen to people this year.” I’m happy to hear it, but I have questions. We’ve worked together for almost five years, becoming friends through his marriage and the birth of two babies. So we can be honest with each other.

Why now? 

I jump into my questions. I ask why now, what’s changed, and how is this different from his behavior up until now. Not surprisingly, he goes directly to his relationship with his wife and first daughter. “I’ve been thinking about how I’ve been frustrated with all the challenges at work and bringing it home. That’s not fair. I don’t like that side of me.” He and his wife have just had their second baby. So I think that may be the answer to why now.

Being a coach, manager, and leader. 

He shares his thoughts about his role as the top engineer and architect for his startup. But instead of going into the tech side, which is often our direction, he talks about being a coach, manager, and leader. I’m intrigued. I ask him how he defines these roles. He’s thought about it and explains that a coach is a two-way relationship. “We both learn,” reflecting back on his commitment to listening and learning. His role as manager, he explains, involves frameworks, systems, commitments, measurements, and accountability to outcomes. And as a leader, he talks about owning the vision, challenging his team, and inspiring them with the company’s mission.

The practical steps he can take.

I’m impressed. And somewhat relieved. I spend more time than I care to admit working through these issues with him and his team because, like many visionary leaders, he’s a bit hardheaded and frankly harsh with his team. So I move our discussion to how he can do this. The practical steps he can take. How to move from one role to another while in flow with his team. We touch on the concept of situational leadership and context switching. Of course, we land back on the primary role of all leaders––communications.

We talk through active listening frameworks, giving feedback, difficult conversations, simplifying his message, and delegating with clarity and non-micro follow-up. Topics we’ve discussed many times before, but here, now, his ears and mind are wide open thanks to his wife and two daughters. And maybe thanks to 2023 and this manufactured annual ritual called the New Year. 

Life-long students of our fellow human beings.

I end with a rant about becoming a student of human behavior. I bring up Robert Greene’s book, The Laws of Human Nature, as but one example. I’ve come to believe that great leaders, managers, and coaches, too, should be life-long students of our fellow human beings. We’re complex, as has become obvious during this covid period. And as such, it requires full adoption of Aristotle’s challenge to seek understanding. Yes, we need to heal ourselves but adding the external purpose of serving others helps.

We don’t change automatically when the calendar year flips, but our mindsets and approaches can if we remain life-long students. A new beginning indeed.

–end

Want to hear more from Renn? Read his last blog on whether managers should lead.

The post A New Beginning | What Leaders Are Talking About in 2023 appeared first on SNP Communications.

I always found that one questionable. But the older I get, the more I reflect on it as the ultimate metaphor for leadership. My father’s point is that leaders must inspire action. They can’t just build plans and organizations and expect people to follow. As every leader learns at some point, every problem can’t be foreseen, nor can it be planned for. The old military axiom comes to mind. “All the planning ends when the first shot is fired.” The point is that leaders need followers who think, solve problems, and make decisions on their own.

This brings me to my personal view on leadership.

“Leaders must be able to manage. But managers don’t need to lead.” I could go further and say that managers probably shouldn’t lead in many cases. Managers have very different roles from leaders. In simple terms, leaders break things while managers build them back. Leaders and managers need each other. Leaders must look around corners, preemptively address coming problems, make difficult decisions, and know when to change course.

Managers generally don’t have that burden. Managers scale things or operate systems for rhythmic consistency of behavior over time. The true magic of business. The ghost in the machine. Great managers understand this. They know that much of what they do is not understood or even known. Due to its nature, it’s rarely the shiny thing in the room. But without it, nothing happens.

It’s like I often say to my wife, who misdirects praise for my creative skills, “Ideas are a dime a dozen. Getting them done is the real work.”

So can managers lead?

Sure. But should they? It depends. The mistake we often see in our work with leaders and their teams is that leaders and managers confuse their roles. The world is in awe of leaders. They are the ones who get recognition and praise. But experienced leaders know the price for this spotlight. The heat of it. The exposure. The risk. And they know their leadership is often questionable without great managers around them.

And great managers know their role in supporting leaders. They get the benefit of not being in the spotlight. Not owning the risk. But they carry the responsibility of achieving the goals. Often without recognition. It takes a special type of person to manage well. Selfless dedication to the mission. Confidence in their self-worth. And ultimately, an uncanny ability to regulate their ego, self-interest, and ambition.

Because in the end, leaders must inspire us to accomplish things we don’t think we can do. That means they often disrupt our comfort by purposely causing pain on behalf of the mission. While managers have to coach us through the pain of change to get it done. It’s the yin and yang of business. Each with an understanding of their roles and responsibilities and their mutual dependence.

This brings us back to the main question, should managers lead?

My military father would say yes, saying that the U.S. military is respected because it is a force of generals. All soldiers are taught to lead. So maybe that’s where we land. Leaders and managers have their roles. But great organizations don’t settle there. They ensure that everyone is taught to lead.

But let’s be clear, my father was a terrible manager. He was inconsistent and incapable of functioning during times of peace. But he was the guy to turn to when there was a challenge, an urgent moment for action, or a need for change. Leaders are like that. We need them when we need them. But managers are needed all the time. Now, if only we could get them to manage their ego, self-interest, and ambition. That’s another topic.

Want to read more from Renn? Check out his last blog on the key to returning to in-person work as a leader.

The post Should Managers Lead? appeared first on SNP Communications.

Our SNP team has now facilitated a number of offsites, team meetings, and taught classes. In theory, we’re back to normal. Or are we? It feels weird right? Tentative. Anxious. It’s like showing up in your family home after years of being away. Everything is where it was but something’s different.

Consider this. You’re different.

This moment of global reflection has changed you. The world, though, really hasn’t. Larger global changes are generally gradual, moving in slow motion. But you’ve been forced to change quickly which introduced different priorities. Different concerns. Different expectations of yourself and others. Those months which turned into years have given you time to consider your life’s choices. And you, and most everyone you know, have done just that.

So now what? Of course, there’s always the great resignation. While many people have made that choice, most of us haven’t. We’ve decided to stay the course. Go back to what we know. Love even. After all, our previous life choices weren’t all wrong.

Some years ago, our son asked to work for our company. He’s a musician. Committed to his art. His mom and I were surprised but agreed. Up until this request, we had kept our children distant from our passion for communication and leadership. Our son was assigned to one of our most seasoned leaders to learn the basics. Message development, presentation skills, active listening, and the many nuances of human engagement.

After a few weeks of challenging moments, we were surprised when at dinner one night he asked, or more accurately, chastened us, “Why didn’t you teach me these skills when I was a teenager? I wouldn’t have the level of anxiety I have.”

He went on to explain how the skills, particularly active listening, allowed him to focus on others instead of his own distorted perceptions and self-absorption instincts voiced with words like “what about me, my feelings, my opinions, my concerns.” Instead, he asked questions. Considered the audience. Their concerns and opinions. To his surprise, it relieved his anxiety but did a lot of good for the people he listened to.

This comes to mind because our son’s experience might be useful for all of us right now.

We’re all anxious.

As we step back into our offices and see our Zoom relationships in person, know that everyone is feeling some level of anxiousness. They may not know why. But know they feel what you feel. And you, like our son, can serve them best by focusing on them.

Ask questions. Listen actively. Repeat back what they say without editing or judgment. Be curious. Interested. Learn something. Or as the mystic philosopher, Simone Weil reminds us in her book, Gravity & Grace, pay them full attention. It’s the greatest gift we can give to others.

This moment in our collective history screams for it. As we return to our new normal, let’s look at our co-workers, friends, family, and environment with our new eyes. And show them the respect they deserve, our full attention. Then maybe we’ll discover something new about ourselves as well as serve our collective social need.

As I’m reminded from the 1990s movie Angels in the Outfield, “it could happen.” You didn’t think I would end without a random movie reference, did you? Some things don’t change.

–end

Read more from our Co-Founder, Renn Vara, on his last blog Reflection Doesn’t Have To Wait about how leaders can reflect with their teams.

The post Pay Them Full Attention appeared first on SNP Communications.

Funny enough, COVID forced us to stop and reflect. And reflect we did. We thought about our lives. Our priorities. Our limited time on this little blue ball. And many have taken action. Some have quit jobs. Changed friends. Locations. Even opted for divorce. While some of this has been shocking and maybe a bit destructive, most has been clarifying and life-changing in a good way. People are making thoughtful choices. Adjusting their lives to fit their values. To fulfill their commitments. And to embrace deferred life goals.

4 ways leaders can reflect with their teams

So what can be taken from this COVID lesson and applied to work? And is there something to learn that can help us be better leaders? Better people? Better at life? Consider these 4 ways leaders can reflect with their teams:

1. See your work on three levels; who you are, what you do, and why it matters.
   
2. Distribute your and your team’s time appropriately. Consider 33% to each.
   
3. Develop a structure for that distribution. For example, break down the work to show how it connects to your values, being of service, and living your mission.
   
4. Involve your team. And encourage them to do the same personally.

How this works in practice

On a practical level, here’s how this works. Let’s assume you lead an operations team. You do some sort of back-office function. Something needed but not visible to the wider company. The work is intense, task-oriented, and incessant. There is little time to think much less reflect.

You and your team decide to build a daily schedule to include pre and post reviews of the work, the distribution of tasks, the output, and your team’s mission. These reviews may be as short as fifteen minutes each. The focus is to recognize the effort, align people to skills and passions, and measure the results.

Then once a week, take a longer meeting to discuss what’s working and what’s not. Again, adjust the work accordingly. Then once a quarter, take either a half or full day to review and reflect on the three levels; who are we, what do we do, and why does it matter.

Notice this is the structure you used personally during COVID. You just didn’t know it. But all day long, you stopped and thought about what you were doing. If you were like most of us, you were harsh on yourself. Judgmental even. Not the most healthy approach. But with a little tweaking, you can do this without being self-destructive or allowing that negative little voice in your head to take over.

This approach is taken by startups

Also, notice this is the structure and approach taken by successful startups. The pre and post-fifteen-minute meetings are called standups. The weekly reflections are called All Hands. And the big reflections are called quarterly business reviews (QBRs).

Reflection or, as my Western Civ college professor would say, pondering your navel, doesn’t have to wait for a crisis like COVID. It can be incorporated into your busy life as a normal thing. The benefits far outweigh the risks. And if the Greeks knew it way back then, we can know it now. Know thyself indeed.

Want to read more from SNP Co-Founder Renn Vara? Check out his last blog on Valuing the Informal Connections at Work!

The post Reflection Doesn’t Have to Wait appeared first on SNP Communications.

I credit C.S. Lewis with the concept of the arrogance of help. It’s the idea that the mere statement of saying “I’m here to help” carries with it an air of superiority. Who are you to think you can help? I faced this in my twenties working with street kids in New York City. One of my jobs was to screen celebrities who came to our door to offer their help. I quickly learned that if they came because they wanted to give back, they didn’t stick around for long. But if they came because they needed to for selfish reasons, it worked out well for them and our kids.

This comes to mind when we see corporations jumping on social bandwagons of good causes and political trends. It’s become a popular, if not essential, element of doing business. This is particularly true now with employees, especially the younger workforce, expecting their personal values to align with their employer’s values, missions or products.

But there is a hitch. As my wife and I learned very early on as parents, each succeeding generation has highly attuned bullshit meters beyond the preceding one. It might be nature’s way of compensating for our eternal hopeful and easily manipulated human frailty.

Business Decisions: Sincere or opportunistic?

This honed ability to judge intention is a challenge for business leaders. How can they contribute to a cause or help solve a social challenge without seeming to be opportunistic? The founders of Airbnb come to mind. How are they able to attach themselves to current emergencies like the influx of homeless refugees from Afghanistan running from the Taliban and not be judged as manipulating the moment? When Airbnb jumps on board, we see it as sincere and heartfelt.

I have to admit, Airbnb aside, I find myself questioning intention when I see corporate leaders speaking to injustice or contributing to causes that require nothing more than their money. Or when they jump on a socially or politically popular topic that carries no repercussions. Too easy, I think.

But Airbnb is different. Why? Could it be that they have spoken up on divisive topics in the past? Or have been willing to align with unpopular positions knowing there would be a price to be paid? Or could it be as simple as the issues they align themselves with are naturally connected to their products? Full disclosure, I had the privilege of working with the Airbnb founders in the early years, and I know their hearts. Their support for social causes is 100% sincere.

3 Step Guide to Pass BS Meters

Here are a few suggestions for corporate leaders feeling the pressure and maybe the legitimate desire to be of help without having to face the brutal repercussions of generational BS meters:

1. Spend time on clearly understanding your company values. Question how they can be applied to the wider world in addition to your parochial need to generate shareholder returns.
   
2. Find causes that authentically align with these values. Fight the urge to stretch beyond your values in order to leverage a popular social or political moment. Your PR and GR folks will struggle with this.
3. Be careful how you promote it. Let the people who care find your gift of time, money, and energy versus you feeling the urge to widely promote it. Again, your corporate leaders tasked with this will push back.

The bottom line is this, we all have a responsibility to be socially responsible. We all need to step up. And most of us do. But corporate leaders face scrutiny that, while unfair, is real. They ignore it at their own peril.

Remember, this scrutiny is based on an underlying societal bias reflected clearly in a quote by the Brazilian business leader and social innovator, Ricardo Semler.

“If you are giving back, you took too much.”

Want to read more from SNP Co-Founder Renn Vara? Check out his last blog on Valuing Informal Connections at Work!

The post Good Intentions, Maybe. appeared first on SNP Communications.

I’m here to attend their first company-wide offsite. The two founders were able to keep most of the team employed with some help from the Moroccan government. They’ve been staying busy improving processes and keeping in touch with prospective travelers mostly from the United States. But it’s gotten a bit “long in the tooth” as the Irish would say (a.k.a rather old). They’re eager to get back to what they do best.

“It’s odd. We’ve kept in touch on Zoom and had some one-on-one in-person meetings. But it’s so different with everyone together,” this co-founder was struggling to capture the emotion of the moment. “The conversations are different. It’s like we’re filling in the gaps we didn’t even know existed.

The gaps we didn’t know existed: opportunistic connections

At SNP we’ve talked for years about the importance of opportunistic connections. Passing in the hall and being reminded of a task or piece of information that was missed during the last team meeting. Or a cross-functional peer who gets informed during unscheduled moments. Not to mention all the social updates we took for granted. Making those informal connections at work is powerful. During COVID, those moments are gone. As a senior member of our team said this week, “We’ve been working in our silos and didn’t even know it.”

On my return trip to New York City, I talk to another founder based in Berlin. His business provides mobile, 3D maps for mountain climbers and extreme skiers. They just had their first in-person leadership team meeting. “It was crazy,” he explained. “We’ve been fighting over a wide range of topics over the past year. But during this offsite, we resolved all of them in forty-five minutes. The same words but being face to face is different.” He’s a seasoned leader but even he was surprised by the power of being in person.

Approaching hybrid and creating informal connections at work

As we approach some form of hybrid work, we’re hearing this more and more. Surprise and delight with getting things done, with three-dimensional faces. Reading body language. Sensing the visceral emotion of being in person. The FOMO we didn’t even know we felt during the past eighteen months, is being highlighted as we find ourselves working part-time from home with some increased frequency of going to the office or attending in-person team meetings and offsites.

We’re all struggle with this next stage of work, determining how much time we spend in the office versus working from home.

Here are a few things to consider when moving to a hybrid model:

• This is permanent. Don’t fool yourself. And even if it’s not, best to think it is.
• Find ways to get informal face time scheduled with your teams. Make informal connections at work happen.
• When you do, make time for casual interaction. Think of opportunistic moments.

And as a leader, you set the tone. So focus on these three things:

• Your company mission and values to guide you through this hybrid moment. Lean on them. They are what bond your team and will pull you through the FOMO that will continue to some degree.
• The team versus the individual. The book, Will It Make The Boat Go Faster by Ben Hunt-Davis MBE & Harriet Beveridge, comes to mind. Rely on common beliefs and commitments to the team. More than that, demand it.
• And finally, focus on outcomes versus management strategies of the past. Most of your team will continue to be out of sight for most of their work time. Don’t let your insecurity get the best of you. Track and publish outcomes and judge the work based on that.

On a practical level, you will need to balance a mix of offsites, in-person team, and leadership meetings, with this so-called hybrid model. Meet more regularly. Structure opportunistic moments where cross-functional teams can work together, both formally and informally. Value the informal. And keep reminding the team why you exist as a company and team. Your purpose.

Surprisingly it comes down to FOMO, which reveals itself in this transitional COVID moment. And you thought it was only anxiety, loneliness, and fear. Yep, one more thing to add to the mix. The learning continues.

Want to read more from SNP Co-Founder Renn Vara? Check out his last blog on The Dependence of Independence!

The post Value the Informal appeared first on SNP Communications.

But the professionals say we don’t. In today’s world, the media we consume influences us. It dictates our choices by the ideas we’re fed, the videos we watch, and the social media we obsess over.

Psychiatrists, therapists, and social scientists go beyond social media to say we choose very little in our lives. We are driven by our DNA, history, environment, and upbringing to believe and act in subscribed ways.

Jonathan Haidt talks about this in his book, The Righteous Mind, when he uses the metaphor of an elephant and a rider. The rider believes she’s controlling the elephant but instead is rationalizing the elephant’s movements. The decision to go left or right is the elephant’s alone.

Philosophers from Socrates to Descartes break it down to ego, self-interest, and ambition.

We need to feel we’re in control.

But only the courageously self-aware come anywhere close to being independent. Throughout history, we talk about them as outliers, oddballs, or heroes. Historical figures like Gandhi, who faced off not only an empire but the historical engrained truths of the social caste system of India. Or Martin Luther King Jr. who defied his social truth to challenge the self-delusional view of a nation’s founding.

We also see it among our friends and family. Those who don’t go along to get along. They walk their own path. They seem to be nonplussed by social judgment or criticism.

On the positive side, they challenge us to question our choices. But mostly they make us question them – their mental health, their selfishness, their lack of social grace or alignment.

The 1984 Apple ad comes to mind. “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes.” Easier said than done.

It explains the hunger for self-help books with advice on how to best run our lives. Make good choices. Great strategies for winning and being successful in love, work, and life. And of course, religion plays its role in making us feel we’ve given up our selfishness for a greater good or value.

There’s a price to pay…

There is a price to pay in discipline, time, and dedication to some level of adjusted behavior. Much of it for the good.

In today’s divisive world, we hear words like freedom, choice, celebrating diversity, embracing differences, and accepting any and all personal choices. Except for differences of opinion. That seems to be in question these days.

To challenge prevailing views is the latest social pressure for alignment. The concept of truth is under attack from every corner. Our understanding of history, of science, of academia, institutional knowledge, all in question.

The 17th-century thinker, Rene Descartes, exhausted the topic of knowledge in his Meditations on First Philosophy. What do we really know? What is even knowable? Even the differences between what is known or assumed to be known.

This exercise of questioning knowledge and truth has been practiced as a course of human existence. Quantum mechanics adds science to it by applying a mathematical perspective to the debate. In the end, the only accepted truth seems to be written by the winners. The ones who write it down.

So what is independence in this sea of intellectual confusion? The Stoics seem to come closest to some level of clarity.

They say independence is self-knowledge of one’s limits coupled with a commitment to doing good.

It’s not selfish or self-serving. Instead, it calls out the dependence of our social connections. Our need to be needed. To be of value. To contribute.

In the end, independence requires comfort with our true selves, with the knowledge that truth exists in our own behavior. Our response to others. And an acceptance of what “is” while still challenging injustice and seeking understanding versus allowing our own judgments and bias to get in the way. Again, easier said than done.

During this month of celebration of our nation’s independence, the Stoics view aligns with our own history. Our founders, sharing our flaws of bias, history, and human frailty, were still able to create ideals. Write them down. We get the privilege of making them come true.

Our independence depends on us. On our behavior now. We get to challenge ourselves, to seek our own truth, and to move this grand experiment just a bit closer to being true for everyone, not just the winners.

This dependence on independence is the price we pay. And pay it we will.

Want to read more from SNP Co-Founder Renn Vara? Check out his last blog on The Future of Work!

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This way of thinking is true for most of our great leaders. Modern history calls out Winston Churchill or General Eisenhower or even Chairman Mao with his consolidation of power in China. Or going back even further, we think of Sultan Selim of the Ottoman Empire. And more than a few women like Maria Theresa of the Hapsburgs or Russia’s Catherine the Great. What these leaders have in common across time and culture is that they all looked in the same direction: forward. They believed that progress was a force more powerful than the political and social status quo, more powerful than physical limitations, more powerful even than reality itself. 

Which got me thinking about now: This pandemic, and our emergence. Should we call it a re-emergence? There’s been a lot of talk about going back to what some call “normal.” But if history teaches us anything, it teaches us that change is constant and inevitable. So let’s first agree on this: there’s no such thing as normal (and no “new normal,” either). 

Yet there are new behaviors and truths that emerge as we find our way, always forward. What will the next few years teach us about work, life, ambition, and happiness? We’re not soothsayers. But we can make some informed guesses.

Here are mine:

• There will be three types of thinking going forward. First, those who believe the world will go back to the patterns of pre-COVID, from how we work, to how we shop, to how we interact.  Second, those who believe the opposite: Nothing will be the same. And finally, those who embrace the ambiguity of both being true. Let’s call them hybrid thinkers.
• More than ever before, a person’s economic position will have an impact on the control they can exercise over the rhythms of their daily life.. Those with resources and (by definition) choices will push back against the leaders and companies that attempt to constrain their newfound freedoms around how and when they work. 
• The disparities in how people work will highlight and exacerbate the economic differences in society, in new and unanticipated ways. Take the NYC subway, for example. Instead of being used by a mix of social classes for morning and afternoon commutes, at these times the riders will mostly be those who can’t afford to control their work commitments. This will translate into increased crime and safety issues and further widen the gap between social choices made by the rich and poor.
• Urban and rural living will continue to define the social, political, and economic differences. The rich will expand their ownership of high rise apartments with rural getaways. Rural areas will become too expensive for the locals. Resentments will bubble up into the streets, much like NYC and LA in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
• Governmental institutions related to healthcare, policing, and education will lag and possibly break. The rich will be buffered. The poor, not so much.

So what does this have to do with moving forward? Simply this: We can, as the founder does with his head, work to make a difference. It might not feel like we’re getting anywhere. But when nature makes another change, and takes the wall down, we’ll be the first to fall through. And hopefully we’ll land on the right side of history. Too esoteric? Maybe.So there you have it. Moving forward means we believe in the fallibility of walls and are committed to being the first ones through when they fall. How’s that for positive thinking? For some related reading, check out David Epstein’s new book, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. Yep, being a generalist helps.

But here are the practical steps we can all take as we beat our heads against our brick walls:

• Know there is collective strength in common goals and efforts. We each need to do our part to help each other. Be more generous with our time and money. Instead of wasting energy on issues out of our control, focus on local needs.
• Embrace the decisions of our workplace and politicians. The Stoics call this the “will.” It’s those things we can’t really impact. Of course we can contribute and protest. Do that. But know that it has a negligible effect.
• Control that which we can control. Our job. We can stay or go. Our location. Move or not. Friends and family. Choose wisely. We can also inform and influence. Do all of this without being judgmental or self-righteous.
• And most importantly, fix ourselves. Work on our mental, physical, and social health. Our greatest gift to this precious life is our self-improvement (without being all precious about it). Seneca’s view of “polishing” comes to mind. Instead of doing it selfishly, do it because we are committed to being givers versus takers. Real happiness achieved.

Want to hear more from our Co-Founder Renn Vara? Read more of Renn’s blogs.

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