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THIS WEEK
What does your "stuff" say about you?
ALSO IN THIS EDITION
What does your "stuff" say about you?
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Every day we are bombarded with information. If we took in everything we see, touch, smell, and taste in full our memory circuits would overload and we wouldn't get anything done. So, as an evolutionary mechanism to cope we scan information and then form quick impressions.
We form impressions of a person, family or business from just a microsecond's exposure – we then look for clues to reinforce our impression through subsequent seconds. Our brain is like a scientist – forming a hypothesis and then looking for evidence to support our hypothesis.
Let me share something about how this works. This past week I have been at my mother's house. She is currently in hospital after a fall and can no longer live independently. She will be moving to a high care nursing home once her health improves and will not be returning to her home of more than 30 years. This week I have been going through her things, helping her work out what she will take with her and what she is ready to let go.
As I went through each drawer, each shelf and each cupboard I found myself adopting the role of detective. Trying to find clues about my mother and what her life was about aside from the bits I knew. I looked at each of the objects she had collected over the years, each of the books on the shelves and each CD.
I observed the tangle of objects in drawers and behind cupboard doors whereas on the surface things were neat. I saw the mountain of paperwork – envelopes unopened and personal papers unfiled. I found pieces of her personality scattered in the corners of bought and never used mail order and buried in the mounds of sheet music to be sorted.
Looking as a detective I would conclude that her life was about music – that her soul beat to the drum of song, that she was happiest when singing or playing piano, and that everyday life overwhelmed her so much that she blocked it.
I would surmise that she defined who she was by what where she came from and what she did. Her early years in Estonia still loomed large and she was very proud of her children and what they accomplished. Her role as church organist and choir mistress for a large community choir dominated her life, and when these roles passed in recent times through her human frailty, she no longer knew who she was.
I would conclude that she sought solace in buying stuff that she would never use or need purely for the moments of pleasure opening presents gave her. I would conclude she was proud, stubborn and independent of spirit – and giving ground on any areas was a battle that was very hard fought. That she would do anything and buy anything to keep her independence and to remain right.
Yes ... this assessment is personal. Yet every day your customers and your employees make exactly the same sort of personal judgements about you and your business based on the "stuff" in your business.
They look at exactly the same sort of things that I looked at, and make decisions about everything from how profitable your business is, through to the personalities of the management team based on quick nano seconds of exposure.
 People notice that your branding isn't consistent. That your brochures are curling or dog-eared rather than fresh and new. They see the dust bunnies in the corners, the fading stock boxes, the piles of paper and messy desks.
They pick up on the spelling mistakes and the absence of name badges. They hear the bored tone or the forced cheerfulness in the phone answering. They see through the "try too hard" furniture or the "make do with grandmas couch" in the waiting room. People notice "stuff".
The best time to ask employees about "what the culture is like around here" is to ask them in the middle of their first week of employment. They can usually describe with pinpoint accuracy how focussed or how slack your business is. They can tell you the gaps between what is said and what is done and they have a pretty strong idea on how effective your management team is. Find a way to tap into this knowledge and you will save thousands on business consultants trying to analyse your culture for you. How did your employees come to these conclusions? Simply ... they looked at your "stuff".
So ... what does your "stuff" say about you? What message does your stuff say about how you run your life and your business? What does your stuff tell people about your personality and your profitability?
Take a look around your office today to see what your stuff is telling people. Perhaps you may find it is time to clear some of your stuff that no longer serves you or reflects who you are today. Only keep stuff that truly makes your heart sing and that defines who you are. After all – that's the sort of stuff that will attract the right employees, friends and customers to you and your business.
| HR Tip of the Week - The Sandwich Generation |
 Many baby boomers are caught in what is called the sandwich generation - they are juggling childcare as well as caring for aging parents. In the past decade businesses have become more flexible in assisting parents with child care responsibilities cope. They have introduced flexible working hours, maternity/paternity leave and carers leave to cover for caring for sick children - all as a way to retain great employees.
Yet caring for aging parents has not received the same level of attention. Older parents often need assistance getting to and from medical appointments as well as assistance when they fall ill, and yet many employees don't access carer's leave options for these situations. The taboo from mentioning you had kids at work 20 years ago seems to have shifted to mentioning you have aged care responsibilities.
Given the rapidly aging workforce, I predict elder care will begin to gain dominance as a workplace issue in the coming decade - with workplaces needing to put in place policies and practices that encourage and support employees with elder care responsibilities.
Just as talking about childcare in the workplace was one way to start tackling the taboo 20 years ago, starting the discussion about elder care in the workplace is a great place to start supporting the sandwich generation.
| Workshop of the Week - Clear your Clutter - Free your Life |
Given my experience in my mother's house, I wish she had attended this workshop being run by Julie McLeod from Kharma Consulting.
Julie is running a "Clear your Clutter - Free Your Life" workshop at the end of the month, designed for people who are being overrun by clutter and junk.
When you attend this workshop you will:
- Learn the principles of de-junking your environment and your life.
- Discover the effect clutter-clearing has on supporting your dreams and goals.
- Learn tips to remove that mental baggage and revitalise your life.
- Learn tools to remove blockages and manifest what you want.
- Learn why clutter is a time thief.
- Leave armed with a Clutter Clearing Action Plan!
- Workbook and notes provided.
Brisbane Sunday 30 Aug 09 Time: 12.30pm to 4.00pm
Cost: Julie has agreed to a special offer for our readers - instead of $100 per person, her SPECIAL OFFER is 25% discount - just $75.00 per person!
This special offer is only valid between midnight Wed 29 Jul 09 and midnight Wed 25 Aug 09.
To book or for more information contact Julie on phone 0417460741.
My mum is heading into a nursing home so in the past few weeks we have been researching options for her. What we have found is how the aged care industry has totally missed the point of how baby boomers now research information.
In this post I share what we found and what we were looking for. This information is relevant no matter the industry you are in - people all look for the same core information, so use this checklist to give your website the "once over".
exuberantly yours
Ingrid
Heart Harmony
PS: This week's Small Business Tips blog included a post about "Lekking - Not Just a Great Word"
Legal stuff: This newsletter is intended only a general guideline for Australian businesses. You should seek specific advice for your situation rather than relying only on this newsletter
Earnings disclaimer. Some of the content may include advertorial information, which means I may receive financial compensation for the products I recommend. But - unless I know and trust the product, I will not recommend it.
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