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Dead Horses

Many times we ignore the obvious, believing to be "too simple" or not appropriate for the current situation. The following "article" has been making its way around the Internet… We received this version in one of many newsletters to which we subscribe. Which of the strategies provided below mirrors that of your organization?

Dakota Sioux tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.

However, in managing any business we often try other strategies with dead horses, including the following:

  1. Buying a stronger whip.
  2. Changing riders.
  3. Saying things like "This is the way we always have ridden this horse."
  4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
  5. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.
  6. Increasing the standards to ride dead horses.
  7. Appointing a tiger team to revive the dead horse.
  8. Creating a training session to increase our riding ability.
  9. Comparing the state of dead horses in today's environment.
  10. Change the requirements declaring that "This horse is not dead."
  11. Hire contractors to ride the dead horse.
  12. Harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed.
  13. Declaring that "No horse is too dead to beat."
  14. Providing additional funding to increase the horse's performance.
  15. Do a CA Study to see if contractors can ride it cheaper.
  16. Purchase a product to make dead horses run faster.
  17. Declare the horse is "better, faster and cheaper" dead.
  18. Form a quality circle to find uses for dead horses.
  19. Revisit the performance requirements for horses.
  20. Say this horse was procured with cost as an independent variable.
  21. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.

Personal Management

(NOTE: Although this article was originally written for a woman's publication, the same basic principles of self-care apply for each of us, regardless of gender.)

Women are natural supporters. We take care of our families – our children, our spouses and our parents. It’s a natural extension for us to take care of others who need us. That’s why so many women “naturally” find themselves in a supportive role in business – whether the job title is clerical support, secretary, or administrative assistant.

Even those of us who have never actually held the “secretarial” title, find that in general, we are more concerned than our male counterparts with the well-being of our employees. As women, we tend to empathize with the child-care and personal life issues when they come up because they are so close to us in our traditional roles.

Unfortunately, we caregivers (male and female alike) don’t always take as good care of ourselves. To be successful in our modern multi-tasking world, it's just as important for us to be concerned and considerate with ourselves as it is with our employees.

Remember that sometimes you must simply put yourself first, regardless of deadlines or other outside requirements.

This translates into time for yourself and your personal needs. Each of us is different, and our individual needs will be different. Just as we have schedules that require us to block out time for various projects, it’s important to create appointments with ourselves to take care of our needs and nurture the creative parts of ourselves.

Take time to rejuvenate yourself – in whatever way is important to you. This means taking the time to just “be”. As Deepak Chopra says, we are human beings, not “human doings” or “human thinkings”.When you take time to "re-create" yourself, not only do you recharge your own batteries, you will discover that ultimately you have even more to give to your work and to others.

So pay attention to what is important to you. Discover and develop a personal regimen that is right for you.

Notice your venus weight loss reviews diet and what works. Understanding your body and what it responds to well will give you a better sense of control and may ease some of the bodily tensions of keeping to rigid and artificially imposed schedules. This could mean spending 2 hours on Sunday reading, doing your nails (or waxing the car), or walking on the beach with the dog. It could mean working out with weights or creating a regimen for yourself that includes a walk every morning.

Personal time also means recognizing that no matter how efficient and effective we may be on the job, being a superwoman/superman is an unrealistic goal. Life has a natural order of activity and rest. We have the seasons, and we have the agricultural growing cycles to remind us. Life has a natural order of activity and rest. Creating balance is what life does naturally. If we want to offer 100% of ourselves in our business roles, then we have to play as hard as we work.

Being a whole and complete person means taking care of ourselves, too. Maintaining our mental, physical and spiritual health and vitality will go a long way towards insuring our longevity and business success over time.

©1998,2003, Katie Darden, Career Life Institute

Successful Entrepreneurship – Achieving the American Dream

Note: This article was written in 1999, but the trends continue along the same lines, making it relevant today.

Did you know the number of women owned businesses increased 89% over the past decade to an estimated 8.5 million? Or that during that time they generated $3.1 trillion in revenue, a 209% increase after adjusting for inflation? The Small Business Administration’s Office on Advocacy recently completed their Women in Business statistical report, and concludes that the projected growth rate through the year 2000 and beyond will continue to outpace the overall rate of businesses in the United States.

For those of us in business, it’s truly an exciting time. For those of us considering our own business, help can be found. Organizations such as the North Coast Small Business Develop Center (NCSBDC) and the Women Entrepreneurs Institute often sponsor entrepreneurship courses to assist budding entrepreneurs to overcome barriers and pitfalls on the road to success.

By the year 2000, it’s expected that women-owned sole proprietorships will number 7.1 million, or 35% of all sole proprietorships, an increase of 33% over the preceding decade, compared to an overall increase of 23%. The Office of Advocacy also estimates that by the year 2005, there will be 4.7 million self-employed women, an increase of 77% since 1983, along with an increase of 6% in self-employed men. More and more of us are opting to be our own bosses.

But where do you start? How do you get going so you can be part of the growing numbers of entrepreneurs and self-employed? What if you’re not sure about your business idea? Identifying and tapping into your resources is the way to start. Taking a course in entrepreneurship or business plan writing will give you the opportunity to clearly identify your business concept and what it has to offer; to research and analyze your markets, your customers and your competition; to fully develop your business plan; and to consider how much cash you need to get started and keep going.

Extensive resource materials are available from the Small Business Development Centers and the Western Entrepreneurial Network at the University of Colorado (Denver). Although it may initially seem to be a lot of work, when you take the time to research and develop the specific components of your business plan you will create the necessary foundation to start a new business or restructure an existing business for growth and expansion. And completing a business plan is essential to secure the funding you need.

A good course will help you define your dream. It will include real world experience and advice from local business owners who have successfully faced the same challenges. And along the way, you must use your networking skills to begin to build your own support network of business and financial professionals from among the other participants, speakers and the business world.

Nearly three-quarters of all women-owned firms accessed some type of credit in 1993, with one half using traditional loans and 60% using nontraditional sources. Whether you’re just starting up, or expanding an existing business, cash is still king (or queen). A good course will cover cash flow issues and financial statements, and provide some kind of access to representatives from local financial institutions who can explain available funding sources and share information about what is needed from you to access these resources. Your local SBDC will also be able to provide feedback on various aspects of your business plan. They may even have automated business plan software that can assist in putting your plan together into a professional package.

Not surprisingly, more than 60% of women-owned businesses were operated in the home when they were first established. With the use of today’s technology, and one really good idea, anyone can be “up and running” in a short time. If you or someone you know has an interest in fulfilling your own American Dream of becoming an entrepreneur, entrepreneurial training can be an inexpensive way to insure you learn how to build the foundation and network for success.

By Katie Darden
(Note: If you would like more information about local classes e-mail the Career Life Institute at info@careerlife.net,

Cracked Pot

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on an end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived half full.

For two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts." the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

_____About the Contributor__________
Marianne Weidlein specializes in business management, consulting and self-employment. She is the author of "Empowering Vision – for Dreamers, Visionaries & Other Entrepreneurs" and can be reached at aimari@earthlink.net