sábado, 26 de diciembre de 2015

Raúl Gorrín: Productivity means getting things done

By Raúl Gorrín. Productivity means getting things done. There will be times when things are not working out well. This is in all businesses. Can you imagine a company that never had a crises or never had times when things were not working out well? The successful companies  come to terms with the situation.
“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger–but recognize the opportunity.”
~John F. Kennedy

 We are about to start a New Year. None of us has a crystal ball, but do we really need one? Will this be a year when our company is very successful or will this be  a year that will test what our company and what we are made of.  Will there be some obstacles that happen that we can not control happening? Will the government pass some regulations that challenge our companies survival? Will a big customer of ours change to another company that his cousin just started? We can not control these things from happening nor can we change them.

 A smart leader will adapt the philosophy of que sera sera. “Que sera sera” has become a proverb in English, meaning “What will be  will be”:  an expression of cheerful fatalism. Rather than connoting despair, it typically offers relief from worry about future events beyond human control.
“Que sera, sera,
Whatever will be, will be.
The future's not ours to see,
Que sera, sera.”

Even though no one is totally certain about what the New Year will bring, the smartiest of businesspeople, say they are ready for whatever comes. The positive attitude reminds me of another catchy rhyme,  

“As you travel on through life,
Whatever be your goal,
Look upon the doughnut
And not upon the hole.”

A smart leader comes  to terms with the situation, they do not try to change what can not be changed and they accept these changes by taking measures to deal with the new circumstances and lead their companies forward. They are adjusting business models to the new
circumstance, shoring up revenues and moving some of their eggs out of the present baskets.

Being an alcoholic can destroy ones life. It is an illness that one can never recover from. How does one deal with such an illness and still have a normal life? The answer for almost eighty years has been in the Serenity Prayer .

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

 The prayer became more widely known after being brought to the attention of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1941. 

It is no difference in business. You can worry over changes in the economy, in tax laws, in almost any change that  you have no control over or you can accept those changes and look for new opportunities and change your business plan to fit the new circumstance. 

The 8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar Shantideva of the ancient Nalanda University suggested:
If there’s a remedy when trouble strikes,
What reason is there for dejection?
And if there is no help for it,
What use is there in being glum?

 The philosopher W.W. Bartley  (1695) expressing a similar sentiment:

For every ailment under the sun
There is a remedy, or there is none;
If there be one, try to find it;
If there be none, never mind it.

By Raúl Gorrín.


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