Ben,
You provided some tremendous input in your message on small businesses.
>You wrote:
>First, who is responsible to make sure fewer small businesses fail? Seems
>to me that when we start a business, we should be the ones to ensure its
>success (along with those we employ, etc.) That is what a learning
>organization is about: Learning how to more effectively take action to
>achieve the results we truly want (such as owning a successful business).
Where does the community come in in supporting that small business to
assist it in it's success? If there is a restraunt in the local strip mall
should I not support it rather than the one a couple miles down the road,
unless of course the quality is significantly different. Shouldn't I
change my habits if I see the benefit of having a local small business
rather than another a short distance away? Or if a neighbor looses his
corporate job and then starts a home business, should I not support him at
least with encouragement and remain a friend, even though it may mean that
he often asks that I purchase something from him or traffic is increased
in front of my house?
Competition among like businesses at times can lead to both parties going
out of business. More cooperation among businesses to increase the image
of their industry can lead to increased business for all. Two pizza
restaurant owners a couple miles from each other can bad mouth each other
until the community eats more chinese food, or they can both advertise to
get the people in the community to eat more pizza and both restraunts
prosper.
>Second, how would one measure their own improvement? This is a rather
>sophisticated idea, in that people rarely look at their current "reality"
>objectively. . .and hence have no reliable touchstone used for measuring
>progress. Personal Mastery is clearly about improving our personal
>condition, but, frankly, many people are terrified of the idea. Values
>will get challenged, deeply held assumptions will have to change, and
>unpleasant feelings/emotions which influence so much of our behavior will
>have to be addressed and resolved. Sounds like hard and occasionally
>painful work! But then the rewards are well worth the effort!
Having an open mind to change is fairly unique.
>It seems true to me that once someone experiences the transformational
>power of Personal Mastery they naturally want to share it. However,
>there's a world of difference between "wanting to share" and "knowing how
>to share." The desire does not imply the ability. To me, this is
>significant. It is learning "how" to do this that evokes our (and others)
>greatness, not merely having the desire. . .
Well said... at this point it is only plan/do/review and practice.
---
Archie Kregear
kregear@lims.lockheed.com
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Archie Kregear
kregear@lims.lockheed.com
"We can have more than we've got because we can become more than we are."
-Jim Rohn
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--Archie Kregear <kregear@lims.lockheed.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>