Shattering deeply held beliefs about business
Beliefs are interesting creatures. The really deep ones are so much a part of our lives that we do not even know about them until they shatter.
When long-term, tightly held beliefs are shattered, our lives are irreversibly changed.
I am talking about inculcated cultural beliefs, the ones that we are born into, raised on…the ones that we literally did not choose because they are part of the fabric of the world we have lived in.
It is for this reason that travel is so vital to a person with a high commitment to their own development. With travel, we get to step into the beliefs of another person’s existence. It is so easy for us to judge another culture from over here. But unless we are willing to go to the cultural source, we will only be able to view another from our eyes.
So what the heck does belief have to do with business as Unusual?
Well, at the core of business as UNusual is the opportunity to challenge core long-held beliefs about business, money, capitalism, socialism, equity, value distribution, governance…everything actually. Not simply to be contrarian, but to really look at the stories we have brought and sold without ever stopping to ask why.
What are the historical roots of the corporation? And when we start a corporation, exactly what are we invoking? What are the alternatives? (Check out B-Corportations.)
How about banking? Is there an option to the banking system we have today, which really bears little relationship to the original intents and needs of banking? (I am still looking)
The division of income, equity and control? Do we just buy the same old ticket everyone else buys?
Must we build businesses that scale? What are the underlying premises behind this? Or would we prefer to build artisan businesses that never intend to scale? Radical thought. But to do this, we must remove profit from the throne of business.
Unless we are willing to question and possibly dismantle long-held beliefs, then business and our lives will never evolve. We will continue to get business as usual.
Hint. Watch especially the beliefs you fight for. Pay attention to those…in private moments, ask yourself what would happen if this belief wasn’t true.
There are a wonderful group of misfits and non-conformists who are setting the world of business on fire by starting from the place of…”I am not going to drink the business-as-usual kool-aid. Not on my watch.” Check out AJ Leon, Chris Guillebeau, Jonathan Fields.
Remember, for a very, very long time, it was absolutely true that the world was flat. People would fight to the death for that belief.
Photo credit. Bingo Jesus via Compfight
