No Business is an Island

I had forgotten who bought the very first copy of “Make Sure You Get Paid (And Other Business Basics)” but last week the buyer mentioned it. We had a long telephone call, mostly about business. At some point Gloria reminded me. At the time she asked whether it was the first copy sold, and when I confirmed that it was, she had me inscribe it accordingly.

She still keeps it close at hand on her bookshelves and refers to it regularly.

You can hardly imagine how that makes me feel. That book has become for her exactly what I wanted it to be. It isn’t a one-time read, quickly forgotten. It’s an ongoing resource that helps her take good care of her business.

Come to think of it, that’s my attitude about business in general. In my consulting firms, I don’t make sales so much as I build and tend relationships. It pleases me to no end that one of my projects helped a client stay open through the Credit Crunch instead of needing to close up shop. It pleases me that at my largest UK project, my direct client’s key technical person learned so much from me that he could probably handle the next project of that type without me. Some people would think I did away with my own job by transferring expertise. I see it as setting up both me and my client to step up to successively higher pursuits each time we work together.

As far as I am concerned, I am not an expert who zooms in, does a little something, then zooms out and forgets about the client. Whenever possible, my work is collaborative and my techniques are meant to be shared with my clients, not dispensed.

I wish I could say this is the direction the whole civilized world is going, but it isn’t. I see a distinct split.

On one path I see businesses that are looking for easy cookie-cutter solutions to their needs, choose outside expertise in a tick-the-box manner, and think one person who ticks certain boxes is interchangeable with another who ticks the same boxes. The stresses of the Credit Crunch seem to have pushed hordes onto that path.

On the other path I see businesses that still think in terms of building relationships with other firms. The proportion of businesses on that path has diminished in recent times.

The hordes have forgotten the power of teamwork. The motto of the USA is E Pluribus Unum for good reason. Europe decided to form the EU for good reason. If you need a smaller-scale example, go on an Outward Bound course. Notice how much more you can do when you are part of a brigade than when you are on solo, entirely on your own.

Life goes better when you go through it with friends. It is more survivable in bad times and more enjoyable in good times. That is just as true for organizations as it is for individuals.

How is your business going through life? Who will watch your back when you hit a rough patch? If the answer is nobody, remember that no business is an island. Let your business make some friends.