Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Controlled Chaos and Marketing
I've been getting a healthy dose of controlled chaos this week. My five grown children who are in college, the armed forces, or otherwise on their own have returned to the nest along with my daughter who is still at home. I had forgotten what it was like having six in the house, each with their own ideas of what they want to do and when.
My wife's attempt to organize them into a shopping trip this morning was an exercise in herding cats. Whenever she finally got the last straggler ready to head out the door, she'd find that two others had decided that there was still time for them to get "one more thing done" before they left, and the cycle of steering them toward the door would start all over again with a couple of different faces.
That notwithstanding, it's been fun having them home and having the house as lively as it once had been on a regular basis. And it got me thinking about some of the similarities between raising a large family and running your own business.
First off, ANY IDEA THAT YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER THE SITUATION IS NOTHING BUT AN ILLUSION. In raising children, you plan the direction in which they start out. But once you get them going, they develop a mind of their own and can go in directions that you never anticipated.
It's the same way with a business. I know, most people start out their business trying to control every detail, trying to ensure that there is absolutely no risk of failure. But eventually, the realization that that isn't possible leads them in one of two directions. Either they quit, disillusioned that they couldn't achieve the rewards they sought without accepting the risks that lead to those rewards, or they recognize that risk is a constant part of the journey and they hop on to enjoy the ride.
And you never quite know where either journey will take you. Some of our children have developed interests and career choices we never would have expected. And similarly, my business has taken me in plenty of unexpected directions. What I originally envisioned and where I am today is quite different, as trial and error have led me to discard directions that were not as profitable as I expected and to embrace directions that allowed me to fill needs of others that I hadn't recognized.
Ultimately, both raising children and building a business remind me of a comment that actress and director Jodie Foster once made about why she'd rather not act in movies that she directs: "When I'm directing myself in a role, I always get exactly what want out of that character. But when I direct another actor, I sometimes get much better than what I wanted."
Having things under complete control is not the wonderful thing that we think it is. I'm amazed what our children have become and they grew and earned increasing control of their lives. And I'm amazed at the directions that my business has taken me as I've driven it along, seeking out the surprises it has held for me along the way.
There's something to be said for controlled chaos.
Jeff
I've been getting a healthy dose of controlled chaos this week. My five grown children who are in college, the armed forces, or otherwise on their own have returned to the nest along with my daughter who is still at home. I had forgotten what it was like having six in the house, each with their own ideas of what they want to do and when.
My wife's attempt to organize them into a shopping trip this morning was an exercise in herding cats. Whenever she finally got the last straggler ready to head out the door, she'd find that two others had decided that there was still time for them to get "one more thing done" before they left, and the cycle of steering them toward the door would start all over again with a couple of different faces.
That notwithstanding, it's been fun having them home and having the house as lively as it once had been on a regular basis. And it got me thinking about some of the similarities between raising a large family and running your own business.
First off, ANY IDEA THAT YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER THE SITUATION IS NOTHING BUT AN ILLUSION. In raising children, you plan the direction in which they start out. But once you get them going, they develop a mind of their own and can go in directions that you never anticipated.
It's the same way with a business. I know, most people start out their business trying to control every detail, trying to ensure that there is absolutely no risk of failure. But eventually, the realization that that isn't possible leads them in one of two directions. Either they quit, disillusioned that they couldn't achieve the rewards they sought without accepting the risks that lead to those rewards, or they recognize that risk is a constant part of the journey and they hop on to enjoy the ride.
And you never quite know where either journey will take you. Some of our children have developed interests and career choices we never would have expected. And similarly, my business has taken me in plenty of unexpected directions. What I originally envisioned and where I am today is quite different, as trial and error have led me to discard directions that were not as profitable as I expected and to embrace directions that allowed me to fill needs of others that I hadn't recognized.
Ultimately, both raising children and building a business remind me of a comment that actress and director Jodie Foster once made about why she'd rather not act in movies that she directs: "When I'm directing myself in a role, I always get exactly what want out of that character. But when I direct another actor, I sometimes get much better than what I wanted."
Having things under complete control is not the wonderful thing that we think it is. I'm amazed what our children have become and they grew and earned increasing control of their lives. And I'm amazed at the directions that my business has taken me as I've driven it along, seeking out the surprises it has held for me along the way.
There's something to be said for controlled chaos.
Jeff
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