Go Ahead Jump!
We have all heard the story of the fish that asked the other fish, “How’s the water?” The first time you hear this you expect the other fish to reply with something like, “Warm” or “Just right!” Instead, the reply is, “What water?” From this question, what unexpected insights can be gleaned?
Know Water
How did the first fish know it was in water? I mean, it was born in it, has swum in it its whole life, and has never left it. Well, some fish – like Rainbowfish and African Butterfly – actually do jump out of the water. Fish may fly to shake off clinging parasites or a predator. They may do so to catch prey like insects on leaves above. Some fish jump to devour fruit dangling above them. Some will free themselves from a hook a fisherman has baited them into biting. Somehow those fish know water from no water.
If fish have previously jumped out and seen another completely different environment, those fish might know when they are in water. But what about fish that have never left the water? How can they know they are in water? The short answer is they can’t. At best they can imagine but never truly know it till they jump out.
Conversations and Problems
What are you swimming in that you don’t know you are swimming in? I am not talking about a physical thing like water or oxygen you breathe. I am pointing to the conversational environment of your business ecosystem. What are the underlying themes? These would be words and ideas you use daily. It also includes undesirable thoughts that you can’t shake no matter what new market you enter, who you hire, or how successful you are. Somehow, your business always ends up dealing with the same conversations – good or bad – with clients, partners, suppliers and service providers in your ecosystem.
It could be that no matter how much you innovate, the competition always seems to catch up. Or, other businesses seem easy but yours is always harder than imagined. Perhaps suppliers never deliver exactly what you need. Maybe, no matter how successful in reaching milestones, they are never quite enough. It could be something untrue that your firm holds as true. Some leaders at a once highly-successful firm used to say, "Perception is reality." That firm doesn't exist anymore. Some conversational environments can literally sink your business!
A more common example is money will solve problems. If that were true, then the most well-funded and profitable firms would have no problems. But to be a business is to have problems. The key is to make sure your business is focused on problems worth having. Money doesn’t mean no problems, money is just another resource. It's best to keep conversations grounded in a healthy reality that is empowering. Examine what you're thinking right now. Does it leave you empowered about your industry?
Get to What’s Real
Fish that jump from the water get to see what’s real. You can do the same for yourself. Train and develop yourself to test assumptions, observe diligently, and find a way to jump out of conversations you keep having. Then, you can be the one to ask, “How’s the conversational environment?” Listen for “What conversational environment?”
The path to enlightenment in business and life requires leaps into something new and different. So, make like a fish; go ahead and jump!
Here's to you and your awesome future.
Until then, keep your feet on the board and keep riding your wave!
Robert J. Khoury
CEO Agile Rainmakers