Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Posted: 12 Jul 2010 12:17 AM PDT

It is fair to say that in most organisations what gets measured, gets's managed. However it is equally fair to say, as Oscar Wilde did, that a cynic is one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Following this logic, an organisation that excessively prioritises the measurement of money will end up being cynical.

I think that the evidence for the truth of this is all around us. Businesses and governments focussing so hard on measuring money that they loose sight of the bigger picture.

As Einstein eloquently put it "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

The frustrating thing about this focus on money is that it is artificial. Money is not governed by the laws of physics or nature, it is governed by human laws. Laws that we have made up, laws that we can change, if we want to.

There are remarkable things happening in Detroit at the moment. People are making use of derelict land and buildings to grow food and to give it away. Sadly this experiment in community living will end as soon as it becomes successful. Inevitably success will lead to measurement, measurement will lead to pricing, pricing will lead to cost and as soon as the land and labour are priced it will prove uneconomic.

How could we have created a system where it is uneconomic for people to grow food to feed themselves?????????

The problem is that we have largely lost sight of what matters and as a result we fail to prioritise it. Ironically we all know what matters intrinsically, we just don't attribute the importance to it that it deserves.

Perhaps, if we were to measure the things that are really important we might begin to make some progress. Bhutan is a world leader in this area having measured Gross National Happiness (GNH) since 1972. GDP, the more normal measure, measures all commerce so natural disasters, war, terrorist attacks, pandemics can all increase GDP making a country more successful - right!!! For more on this see Chip Conley's inspiring TED talk.

So - what is really important? What might we measure that will help us to manage what really matters and get where we really want to go?

To work out what we need to measure the first thing we need to agree on is, where do we want to go? This is our Vision - what is it that we are going to create. Our Vision is made up of our Purpose, and our Mission, which is the resources we need to make it happen.

A small digression: Who defined the vision for our society? A vision of perpetual conflict and polarisation between rich and poor? What would it take to change this vision? Where are the examples of places, like Bhutan, that take a different approach?

When you articulate your Vision and your Mission, it is vitally important that you avoid limiting them by what you imagine to be realistic. The reality is you have no idea what is or is not realistic, so let it go.

It is your Strategy for delivering on your Vision and Mission that needs to be realistic and that is what comes next. Strategy is simply how you will get from where you are to where you want to get to, your Vision and Mission.

Once you have articulated your Purpose, Vision, Mission and Strategy, what you need to measure will become obvious and it is not just the money.

My purpose in life is to help individuals and organisations work all of this stuff out so that they can succeed by being authentic.

Here is what I can offer to help you or your organisation to flourish and achieve what matters to you.

One to one personal coaching summer offer: As usual I have a summer three for the price of two coaching offer for sessions completed before the end of August. In these sessions we will articulate your personal Purpose, Vision, Mission, Values and Strategy and get started on making it happen. Email me to book your sessions.

Authentic Leadership, find out what leadership is really all about through one to one coaching or a workshop for your team. I have the opportunity to run an open Authentic Leadership workshop in Mallorca in October, if you are interested please help me decide whether to run it by letting me know. More on Authentic Leadership at http://www.authenticleadership.me

Authentic Transformation is the process we use to help businesses benefit from their authenticity through a mixture of coaching and workshops. If you would like your organisation to be more successful by being more authentic take a look at http://www.authentictransformation.com

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With love

nx

Neil Crofts
Neil Crofts
authentic business

+34 646391384
neil@neilcrofts.com
www.neilcrofts.com
Skype - neilcrofts