Most businesses know what they do, many know how they do it. Not many businesses know why they do what they do. I thought it would be interesting to show why I started my business, and discuss how I will go about it.
The Golden Circle idea was created by Simon Sinek, and there are numerous talks and discussions on what he is trying to communicate (see here). This idea resonated with me, so I decided to take it onboard and start my own business, initially focusing on why I get out of bed in the morning, and where I would like my professional life to go. How I will go about it will always be defined by why I started my business. What I do is just a by-product of how I wish to run my business.
Why
True innovation changes industry, and changes business. Truly imaginative ideas come from people fully engaged in their work.
Throughout my career I’ve been lucky enough to have projects where I was fully engaged in what I was doing. These were projects where the job/task/machine was interesting and new, I was working with a close-knit team, and the management/leaders empowered the team to make the decisions that needed to be made. I loved this!
I’ve also worked in some fairly horrific work environments, where no one trusted each other, and there was a culture of “keep your guard up, or someone will stab you in the back”. These are not healthy environments to work in. I’m willing to work very hard not to end up in that situation again.
I want to get back to working in close knit teams, to develop truly innovative ideas (not just iterative development), and provide a culture and environment where people thrive and feel safe. This is why I started my business.
How
Having a truly innovative business requires having the right talent/personalities, and cultivating a culture where critical thinking, creativity and passion are encouraged. In order to achieve this, you need to take on the right kind of projects, and work with the right kind of customers. Essentially I am trying to be very clear about what my core principles are, so I can work with people who’s core principles align with mine.
Core principles:
- Creativity is cultivated in people when they work in a culture where mistakes are only bad if they are repeated, or you don’t learn from them.
- Passion about a project is contagious, but also fragile. Destructive personalities have no place in project teams, regardless of their technical ability.
- Quality of work is not proportional to the amount of time spent on it, or the amount of money invested. Quality work comes from people fully engaged in their work, in an environment where they are trusted.
- True innovation doesn’t just happen; it is born from creativity, cultivated through passion, and adopted by truly imaginative people.
What I do in business will always be changing.
How I go about it will be refined over time.
Why I get out of bed in the morning will be constant.
Grant Udy