In a recent dialogue with Yoga Teacher and Ayurveda Practitioner Cate Stillman we worked with a group of teachers, healers, and visionaries to unravel the challenges of being a visionary sole proprietor, and delved into the opportunity of operating a vision business.
From Cate's Blog:
“Getting over the illusion that business is non-yogic, non-spiritual, I think is one of our next frontiers in the evolution of yoga.” – Kris Nelson
Most yogis don’t have a goal of making a enough money to have a sizable impact. Most yoga teachers I know would be quite pleased with themselves if they can buy organic kale, dark chocolate and travel to study with their chosen teacher. What is the impact of our yoga teaching community investing more in their yoga than in their business planning & business skills? This is one of my favorite conversations. And the person I go to to have this favorite conversation is Kris Nelson, who doesn’t hold back from addressing skills we need to cultivate to make a bigger difference.
To listen to the dialogue:
Your Business is Yoga (with Kris Nelson)
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
You Will
In 1993 AT&T released a massive ad campaign called “You will.” How many of them came true? EZ-Pass, books online, video conferencing, and voice recognition technology. How many of them didn’t? Faxing from the beach (touch technology did though), or public phones with Skype built in - who uses a public phone now? I don't even know how they work anymore.
The great thing about this ad campaign is that I take most of these technologies for granted now. They're a part of my every day life. However, not to long ago, they were simply dreams in people's minds and hearts - dreams that were birthed through vision, strategy, and process.
Krama Consulting and Development is about a lot of things (I'm ambitious). But it's mainly about one thing - assisting people in realizing their dreams through vision, strategy and process.
As you watch this video with these commercials, think about your dreams and how they might come.
Best wishes and happy dreaming:
The great thing about this ad campaign is that I take most of these technologies for granted now. They're a part of my every day life. However, not to long ago, they were simply dreams in people's minds and hearts - dreams that were birthed through vision, strategy, and process.
Krama Consulting and Development is about a lot of things (I'm ambitious). But it's mainly about one thing - assisting people in realizing their dreams through vision, strategy and process.
As you watch this video with these commercials, think about your dreams and how they might come.
Best wishes and happy dreaming:
Friday, July 3, 2009
Beyond The Triple Bottom Line (Integral Business II)
There is a lot of talk in the business world, especially the post-modern new business world of value and vision, about the Triple Bottom Line: profit, people, and planet. I like this approach. I think it's a great start towards building businesses that are sustainable in the long-term and impacting, meaningful in the short term. However, an integral business needs to go beyond this.
I know some of us are just getting our feet wet to the idea and practice of the Triple Bottom Line. For some of us, it's not even yet on the radar. An integral business of profit and impact needs a Penta Bottom Line. I was going to add just one more to the mix (quadruple bottom line), but we, as a business community, need to take a huge leap. Now.
The Penta Bottom Line: Profit, People, Planet, Principles, and Progress.
Most when talking about the Triple Bottom Line put profit last, as in: planet, people, profit. I think this is wonderfully visionary, and yet it fails to acknowledge that a business exists, in my perspective, to primarily create capital. Certainly, not at the harm of the other points on the bottom line, but it's primary reason for being a business, is again, making money. Otherwise, it would be a non-profit or something different.
I assume most of you understand profit, people, and planet, so I will explain principles and progress.
Principles: Rules are out. Principles are in. Principles act as guides and measures in vision, strategy, process, operations, and out-reach. Principles are interactive, directive voices in the process of decision making. Rules are rigid, limit creativity, and exist to create measured and tested results. Principles, on the other hand, acknowledge that our world is complex, changing, and unstable. No longer will rigid rules work to guide organizations that need dynamic and responsive action in a rapidly changing market and business landscape - we need interactive principles. What are the known and unknown principles that guide the decisions in your organization? Do you like them? Are they effectively guiding the outcomes you desire? Do you need a guiding principles tune-up?
Progress: I forced myself to stick with P's, but by progress I really mean development. Integral businesses consider the development of their people, culture, organizations, and the systems they interact with as important as profit. A direct investment in the development of each employee in your organization is a direct investment in your organization. Development programs are generally geared towards management (which is great and certainly needed) and those that are really screwing up, but what would your organization look like if it valued the development of each person, group, and the world around you? How can you create systems where each person is given the chance to build capacities and self?
By operating with a Penta Bottom Line, your organization opens up the sphere and valuation of success to areas that directly relate to your organization's success in the short-term and long-term.
As always, more on this soon.
I know some of us are just getting our feet wet to the idea and practice of the Triple Bottom Line. For some of us, it's not even yet on the radar. An integral business of profit and impact needs a Penta Bottom Line. I was going to add just one more to the mix (quadruple bottom line), but we, as a business community, need to take a huge leap. Now.
The Penta Bottom Line: Profit, People, Planet, Principles, and Progress.
Most when talking about the Triple Bottom Line put profit last, as in: planet, people, profit. I think this is wonderfully visionary, and yet it fails to acknowledge that a business exists, in my perspective, to primarily create capital. Certainly, not at the harm of the other points on the bottom line, but it's primary reason for being a business, is again, making money. Otherwise, it would be a non-profit or something different.
I assume most of you understand profit, people, and planet, so I will explain principles and progress.
Principles: Rules are out. Principles are in. Principles act as guides and measures in vision, strategy, process, operations, and out-reach. Principles are interactive, directive voices in the process of decision making. Rules are rigid, limit creativity, and exist to create measured and tested results. Principles, on the other hand, acknowledge that our world is complex, changing, and unstable. No longer will rigid rules work to guide organizations that need dynamic and responsive action in a rapidly changing market and business landscape - we need interactive principles. What are the known and unknown principles that guide the decisions in your organization? Do you like them? Are they effectively guiding the outcomes you desire? Do you need a guiding principles tune-up?
Progress: I forced myself to stick with P's, but by progress I really mean development. Integral businesses consider the development of their people, culture, organizations, and the systems they interact with as important as profit. A direct investment in the development of each employee in your organization is a direct investment in your organization. Development programs are generally geared towards management (which is great and certainly needed) and those that are really screwing up, but what would your organization look like if it valued the development of each person, group, and the world around you? How can you create systems where each person is given the chance to build capacities and self?
By operating with a Penta Bottom Line, your organization opens up the sphere and valuation of success to areas that directly relate to your organization's success in the short-term and long-term.
As always, more on this soon.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Integral Business I: Short-Term and Long-Term
For the purpose of this blog and post, business is defined as any operation creating capital increase. The hub of a business is making money. This, of course, doesn’t mean that businesses can’t do other things, as they both do and need to – look for a future post: Penta Bottom Line. This simply means that the creation of new capital is the generalizing principle for all things defined as business.
The core intention of this blog is to illustrate what an integral business is, how it operates, and how it is created. My assumption is an integrally framed business will ultimately be more profitable and sustainable (meaning: existing for a longer period of time) than a business that is not.
Businesses typically focus on capital and profit. This makes sense given that business’ organizing and general principle is generation of new capital; however, in our contemporary world with stockholders and stakeholders operating at multiple levels, this has come to mean consistent quarterly increases with solid strategy reaching generally about three quarters out.
An integral business considers many different things as essential to both its existence and profitability. Short-term profit growth is important, as is long term. There are many examples of individuals and organizations that have made decisions that boosted short-term increases, but were ultimately detrimental in the long-term (both to profit and sometimes the viability of the organization).
I recommend that organizations visionize and strategize ten years forward. I understand that ten years is a very long time. Things change rapidly in this world: the market, technology, governments and law, generational preferences in the workforce, social values, and the environment. However, with the assistance of forecasting, intuition, and highly developed leaders and strategists, a ten-year vision and strategy is not simply possibly, but functional and necessary.
Visions and strategies are not fixed, concrete things. They are meant to be dynamic, adjustable, and molded with the feedback of the market and further insight. Though they adjust over time, vision and strategy becomes the guide for every decision made in the present moment. Each decision for profit in the present is measured against a ten-year vision and strategy, and the evaluation considers both short-term and long-term impact (imagine if Enron did this).
An integral business works dynamically in the present while always keeping its sight ten years forward. The relationship and tension between the present and the future (while considering the past) more greatly enables a business for present and future profitability.
The core intention of this blog is to illustrate what an integral business is, how it operates, and how it is created. My assumption is an integrally framed business will ultimately be more profitable and sustainable (meaning: existing for a longer period of time) than a business that is not.
Businesses typically focus on capital and profit. This makes sense given that business’ organizing and general principle is generation of new capital; however, in our contemporary world with stockholders and stakeholders operating at multiple levels, this has come to mean consistent quarterly increases with solid strategy reaching generally about three quarters out.
An integral business considers many different things as essential to both its existence and profitability. Short-term profit growth is important, as is long term. There are many examples of individuals and organizations that have made decisions that boosted short-term increases, but were ultimately detrimental in the long-term (both to profit and sometimes the viability of the organization).
I recommend that organizations visionize and strategize ten years forward. I understand that ten years is a very long time. Things change rapidly in this world: the market, technology, governments and law, generational preferences in the workforce, social values, and the environment. However, with the assistance of forecasting, intuition, and highly developed leaders and strategists, a ten-year vision and strategy is not simply possibly, but functional and necessary.
Visions and strategies are not fixed, concrete things. They are meant to be dynamic, adjustable, and molded with the feedback of the market and further insight. Though they adjust over time, vision and strategy becomes the guide for every decision made in the present moment. Each decision for profit in the present is measured against a ten-year vision and strategy, and the evaluation considers both short-term and long-term impact (imagine if Enron did this).
An integral business works dynamically in the present while always keeping its sight ten years forward. The relationship and tension between the present and the future (while considering the past) more greatly enables a business for present and future profitability.
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