Finding the Fourth Leaf
I found a four leaf clover today in my yard today
It had one leaf missing off it.
but that was ok
—-Todd Snider
This is what I call an optimist or a person who sees the brighter side of things. I don’t think that is foolishness or stupidity. And in today’s business climate it just might be the way to go.
With all the doom-sayers and bad news bears out there, a business person could do well to find the fourth leaf in whatever clover is picked today. Some people have even suggested that it is better not to be reading the news or watching or listening to newscasts so much. There is a tendency to be influenced by what we hear and read, and we can use it to build excuses why our business is this way or that, rather than taking responsibility for the climate in our business.
We must be the optimist about our business and take control of what we can, which is the day to day management of our business and the direction in which it is heading. We can ring our hands and declare, “Oh, woe is me” and feel like victims of ‘the economy,’ or we can continue creating and being the innovative person who got involved in the first place.
At the same time, it is important to not keep your nose to the grindstone and miss keeping your nose in the air to know which way the wind is blowing. By this I mean, in these economic times, with income levels down, it is easy for a business owner to start working in their business and get caught up in the day to day work of production and to find themselves too exhausted to think and plan on working on their business.
Business owners become so busy trying to make a living that they forget to adapt and grow and change. Doing it the way it has always been done is not a business mantra that is going to make it in today’s business climate. If it was good enough last year, it may not be good enough this week. To sit back and wish for the good old days, whenever they may have been, will not bring success these days.
