What Now?
A man once told me that running a business was the exact opposite of smooth sailing. He told me I should be ready for a never-ending series of bottlenecks. There are always challenges that must be resolved. The realistic dichotomy is not between challenge and peaceful growth, but between growing and being driven in meeting the tests ahead.
I realized this pairing right away since I had been part of a team raising teenagers. The multitude of issues and mind-boggling solutions tested our mettle. We could go with the flow or adopt a “growing” paradigm.
Going with the flow is waiting until the night before a school project must be done to ask about it and then trying (by working all night) and failing to complete it. That’s what I called the sale barn approach.
We lived in an area where cattle were raised and brought to the sale barn. A cow is a big animal you can’t lead with a halter or push. What happens at a sale barn is that a space is opened up in front of a bull, cow or steer and the animal steps into it. That works for the cow until the next open space is into the slaughter house. If a person tells you that their teenage children won’t sell them down the river and even blame it on the parent, that person is delusional.
Growing is knowing about that project ahead of time. Put succinctly, it’s doing everything you can to know your child. I don’t say you won’t be surprised—and occasionally aghast—at what turns up. I’m only indicating that this approach gives you an opportunity to assess the situation and the strengths and weaknesses that come to bear.
Many times in my business, I have encountered a “what now.” When I’ve been cruising along, resting on my laurels, I’ve been overwhelmed for a bit. If I’ve been struggling to strengthen myself in skills and knowledge, I can meet “what now” on my own terms – or, at least, terms in which I can do my best.
Come and see Bourgeois Furniture at Berkeley Art Works in Martinsburg, WV, the ShenArtsGallery in Winchester, VA, and Bent River Trading Post in Capon Springs, WV.
See you there.
Joe