...life long learning

I must admit I felt an old familiar feeling of trepidation when typing the title. I imagine that if someone told me as a younger miss (I'm still young ;)) that life long learning was unavoidable I would have felt a little faint to say the very least. School?!?!?!? Forever?!?!? I could imagine my younger self saying, interpreting the phrase in its most literal sense. The truth is ... we do learn forever, whether or not we choose to admit it. The degree to which we may benefit from the inevitable lies in how we embrace this learning.

Yes, there is lifelong learning in the literal sense manifested in the many degree and non degree courses available. There is also the learning that takes the form of work experience, learning from reading a book, learning from seeing a situation through the eyes of another et cetera. The prospect of the unknown, the lesson to be learnt, is naturally met with a little hesitance, though masked at times by bright eyes and excitement. This prospect, however,  provides much promise once we are able to go beyond the fear and hesitation to experience what is being taught. These lessons come from clients, fellow employees, competitors, mentors, even the ride to work each day!

How do I react to the prospect of learning forever now? I say... why not?

Forever learning,
SB

...crests and troughs

As I sit here trying to find my way through the darkness of blogger's block, I realise that what lay just behind me is the trough that was the last week and a half or so. I'm not sure when or how it began but it seemed that unlike my normal self, I found inspiration in nothing. Looking back, that is a scary thought! What does one do when faced with these moments of darkness? Keep moving! I figure one of two things is bound to happen... either some light will shine through a crack and you'll make it to the "crest" or you'll trip and fall. Not that there's anything wrong with falling, the worst thing one can do is fall and stay fallen, so fall, get up and keep moving, light is bound to appear at some point.

How does this manifest itself in business?

Imagine a retail store. It's Christmas season and from about October sales are steadily climbing as persons scramble to find the perfect gifts for friends and loved ones. Good times. Then, Christmas is over, valentines day comes and goes, so does easter and sales slow to just a trickle. What to do? It is in the troughs that one must make the most of the free time to plan advertising strategies, research activities and find the next big things in preparation for future crests. Also, it is during the troughs that all the savings from the crests (given that you did allocate funds wisely and save some) will help the most. One should prepare for the slow times just as carefully as you would for the busy periods. Also, it is during the troughs that all staff need to understand the big picture and how their functions contribute to the whole usually because it is at these slow periods that no one's job is "safe".

So the same principle applies in business as in life. Keep moving.

Move with me :)
SB