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Current systems don't take into account the energy in human systems.

Twenty years ago, I coined a term to talk about the effects of this situation: "energy vampires." Time and time over, I've observed (and proven in business) that when things go bad, it's because energy doesn't circulate at all.

What and therefore who sucks energy? Systems and what they prevent. Because of how they're designed. Here's how:

- The efficient forced self-administered customer service (and therefore an additional fee or energy tax on customers)
- Technology with poor user experience (to save money, there is no service)
- Media demand for attention without adding value 
- Politics disembodied from knowledge, conscience, and ethics 
- Business operating systems which (except in rare cases) cannot function sustainably 

Notice what all of these have in common? They are "systems" programmed by business schools and management consultancies. Systems that do not take into account human energy for their existence and maintenance. This is the problem.

Ceding control to these systems is how we lost beauty, love, trust, care, and connection. The only way to sanity seems to be to subtract yourself as much as possible from current systems as best you can. But not everyone has the luxury of doing that.

You can take control back. Few things give you more joy than doing a good deed. Often that goodness comes from introducing someone to something or someone else, and that someone else doing the same... and so on. 

Connection is how we transform businesses and institutions. Individuals, groups and communities need that transformation to thrive.  How we work together is a renewable form of energy: the customer service person who goes off script to help, the tech team that implements feedback, emerging media, politics that bridge the gap between talk and walk.

Business can be a force for positive impact. Connection is what. All of us is who. Here are some hows:
 

(1.) You can make a difference, trust in your power

In case you were wondering if this is only touchy-feely, look at how Dana White built a UFC empire out of his desire to connect with fans.

(2.) Think knowledge as a service

it's an overused expression, it really does apply. We live in a remix culture, where individuals, industries, and media will thrive by allowing the exchange of ideas. That's where new connections are made.

(3.) Learn to take small risks

This is what passion is all about. Creating new habits involves exploring new territory.

(4.) Make a point with your view 

Put substance behind the approach. Do your homework, be prepared to defend and discuss a topic intelligently and willingly.

(5.) Keep your promises

This is valid at individual and organizational level. Coming through, following up helps you maintain integrity of purpose and build credibility. If I were to give you just one piece of advice, this would be it. 

(6.) Find new words

if what you're saying doesn't work, assume it's because your question, request, or inquiry was not clear to the recipient. Look for an example, a story, some other way to make it easier to understand.

(7.) Demonstrate your serious

Whether it's support, empathy, or active listening, actually demonstrating it is a faster route than a few well-practiced words. Non verbal language works wonderfully here. Online is action and not words.

(8.) Connect actively

if needs be, do it then and there. Forward the message, make the introduction, help people see what they have in common, draw them together.

(9.) Write it down

inevitably, you will get ideas in the course of connecting. Make sure you have a way to capture them - I still do it the 1.0 way, on notepads.

(10.) Let them know you thought of them

This is the nice touch that takes very little time. Depending upon your relationship stage and communication channels open, find ways to show you noticed or thought of someone habitually.

(11.) Be present to opportunities

Rome wasn't in a day, as the expression goes. but it's enough to be alert to see an opportunity when it presents itself.

(12.) Think beyond your close circle

Weak ties, strong ties, we're all in some ways connected to each other by our shared humanity.


The stories in this week's edition captures more nuance and insight around these ideas.
 

1
BEAUTY

“if you consume resources, commodities, like oil for energy, you burn it, and then it’s not there any longer. On the opposite, you have damage due to the greenhouse gases you emit by burning oil. So you not only consume, you pollute. Beauty is the opposite. You never consume beauty. And this can be testified by the fact that beauty is always, let’s say, your legacy. The best and most beautiful and precious things in life are the ones which stay over the centuries. No matter if it is arts, architecture, or even clothing. Whatever it is, if it is beautiful, if it is precious, it’s conserved.” Andrea Illy on the Vast Potential of “Virtuous Agriculture” (Time Sensitive.)

++ Beauty shall be our salvation. At the very beginning of this blog adventure, I wrote about writers and philosophers who have been very important during my formative years. Mostly because in my mind they have been guardian of those places where honest thought marries most practice. Brunello Cucinelli is one of them. Inspiration is the connection we make with spirit.
 

2
LONG-TERM THINKING

“Long-term thinking is at its best, not in terms of long-term planning century by century or utopian planning. You’re trying to keep all the kinds of options that are currently available open — don’t lose options. Progress consists of adding more options.” And “Interesting: how much bad news is anecdotal and good news is statistical. (And how invisible the statistical is.) Still, if only one of the two can be good news, I would rather it be the statistical. It accumulates toward qualitative change that lasts.” What the Silicon Valley Prophet Sees on the Horizon (The New York Times.)

++ Note how he's in Silicon Valley, yet his connection has always been to earth. Like the Italian leaders whose thinking I shared above, Brand focuses on long-term. Here's his reading list on human achievement.

 

3
EMERGENT NOVELTY

"An educator I see the importance of culture and personality and the changes of capacities and consciousness that are necessary—above and beyond the merely technological, infrastructural, economic, and governmental change also needed. The priority is to change our identities and worldviews before rethinking government, economics, and other areas. If we start to rethink government, economics, and law from our position now, we'll solve our problems in ways that create new, worse problems." 'We're in a major world-historical moment of transformation, in which the old world is passing away, and the new world hasn't emerged yet.'

++ Domination emerges from perversion of care, says David Graeber in “The Dawn of Everything.” This intense desire to care for people in the modern state created standing armies and legal systems. You could argue that the capitalist, economic systems and states with geopolitical borders we have now were put in place to care for people. But in the same ways brokers and intermediaries often get in the way of direct connection, these systems are getting in the way of people caring for one another.
 

4
OUTSIDE-IN

"Spending time as an outsider is like any other big, taxing investment you can make in yourself: difficult and maybe painful, but with a positive, lifelong payoff. You might think of it as less like a fun vacation, and more akin to a voluntary personal challenge, like training for a triathlon." Find More Ways to Be an Outsider (The Atlantic.)

++ When I figured out I had become part of the existing corporate systems. That's when I stepped away. So I can support a new narrative without being captive in the old one. This is hard work.

 

5
POLICY

"If you get your work done, that's all that matters." And "The companies that will win the war for talent are the ones that create emotional connections with their people, by creating a culture based on flexibility, trust, and accountability."This CEO’s Remote Work Policy Is Only 10 Words. It May Be the Best I’ve Ever Heard (Inc.)
 

 
6
BETTER BUSINESS PRACTICE

Finding the truth beyond the official story matters increasingly more. Truth connect with our emotional core. Pixar's 22 Rules for Storytelling.

++ Is your narrative intentional? See if you're a good fit for working with me. 
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