A Community of One

I've been reading a lot of things about a lot of things the last few days, very little of it related, but in my mind, it's all inter-related.

Of course, I've been reading a lot about the economy (or lack thereof, as it sometimes seems).  One of the things I read that I thought was very good was a blog post from Copyblogger, a blog which is, as the site itself says, "all about words that get people to take some form of action."  They had a very nice post the other day entitled, "Four Old-School Reasons Why You Can Thrive in this Recession.

Listed as Reason Number One is "Self Reliance.  This Emersonian term has been bandied about a lot lately, especially by certain over-sized media personalities who presume to expound on the failures of others while conveniently ignoring their own short-comings, not to mention the fallacies of their irrational pontifications.  But those annoying noise-makers aside, this issue of 'self reliance' - especially within the context of the larger global economic crisis we're all having to deal with - is something upon which I've been ruminating, too.

Which brings me to something else I've been reading, which is a wonderful book my fiance gave me, called Spark Your Dream.  It's a true story of an Argentinean couple, Herman and Candelaria Zapp, who embark on a journey from their home in Buenos Aires to travel 43,000 miles to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in an antique 1928 Graham-Paige Model 610 Touring car.  Their original plans of arriving in Alaska in six months turns into a 4 year epic.  Rather than being n ordeal, it's an inspirational story of discovery, adventure and insight which they chronicle with passion.

One of the passages that really sparked my fancy was one where Herman is marveling at the rich diversity of humanity that they'd encountered, having  at this point traveling the length of South America and up through Central America.  In the course of experiencing so many strange, new cultures and making many new friends along the way, he was struck by how he and his wife had been transformed.  "If you portray yourself as something you're not," he writes, "it's impossible to enjoy the essence of the moment.  I remember that before the trip, sometimes I showed myself differently from who I really was, just to please others.  So what was happening was that I created a situation that in the end I didn't enjoy because I wasn't myself.  One's value is in who one is, not in what one appears to be.  Now that we are more transparent, I can verify that the relationships are stronger and clearer.

I believe that the human truth that Herman has discovered is true for business as well.  I think that the multiple exposures of failures, scandals, and mind-boggling frauds that have been dominating the headlines of late are the painfully necessary astringents required for the healing process to begin.  Sunshine is, after all, the best disinfectant.  But learning from mistakes is the hallmark of maturity.  But more than just exposing the wrong doers, as professionals I think we all need to look around at our own business arrangements.  Transparency of the books is of course crucially important, but self-transparency in corporate culture - the willingness to walk the walk, as it were - is also vital.

Those companies who embrace openness, diversity and value their employees ideas as well as their labors will, I believe, be the ones who succeed.  Those that look to minimize such intangibles in the blind pursuit of maximizing profits for the elite few will be the ones who ultimately fail.  A company that can recognize the wealth of its people's ambitions, that reaches inward to nurture and reward new ideas, and seeks to forge strong partnerships with its employees and business contacts is, in my opinion, the kind of company that embraces the best aspects of Self Reliance: independent; assured; enterprising; resolute; capable.  Woven throughout the  inter-dependent web of producers, suppliers, logistics and marketing, companies which aim to be working cooperatively with each other (as opposed to a few massive companies trying to subjugate smaller businesses to their Big Box demands), balanced with fair rules and reasonable oversight to ensure a level playing field, such companies can create the kind of business community which promotes healthy competition.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich made an interesting point along these lines a few weeks ago. Noting that the Powers That Be (across two Administrations) had been claiming that there were large financial and industrial corporations which were "too big to [allow to] fail."  "Pardon me for asking," Reich writes in his blog, "but if a company is too big to fail, maybe – just maybe – it’s too big, period.  We used to have public policies to prevent companies from getting too big. Does anyone remember antitrust laws?"  This is - again, my own personal opinion - a long over-due discussion for American society. 

I think that the time has come for Americans to embrace the idea that the global marketplace is not territory for which a few gargantuan corporate predators need to dominate and possess, but one in which the rich tapestry of "Self Reliant" businesses come together to create the communal environment in which all who are willing to play by the rules are welcome to come and share their talents.  Allow for talent, innovation and creativity to thrive and grow, but grow proportionally to its market, and with the understanding that we're all passengers on this beautiful Big Blue Marble of ours, and we'd better keep our gardens clean.  Think of it this way - which tastes better, a local sustainably-organic farm's heirloom tomatoes, or a 5 pound hot-house chemically manufactured tomato?  Bigger is not always better.

So what is "The Little Guy" to do in these tumultuous economic times?  "Embrace the entrepreneurship that’s in your DNA," cheers Copyblogger.  "Keep your eyes open for problems to solve and markets to serve. And buckle up. Like every exciting ride, this one’s got a few hairpin curves."  

So don't be afraid to get into your garden and get a little dirty.  We here at Full Moon Rising, Inc. are ready to start tilling, and we've got our American-made boots on.