Is Work-Life Balance A Good Thing?
Read this article in The New York Times’ Small Business blog, “Is This What It Takes to Run a Small Business?”. It features an interview with George Cloutier, who is founder of American Management Services and who specializes in advising small and midsize companies. He is the author of “Profits Aren’t Everything, They’re the Only Thing,” and he favors a take-no-prisoners approach to running a business. Among other things, he suggests firing all family members, using fear to motivate employees, micromanaging and not whining about the recession. He also tells business owners to love their businesses more than they love their families — a message, he acknowledges, that his current wife (his third) doesn’t fully endorse. He has no children… (end quote)
A core value that I share with my fellow associates at Kraft Associates, and which is also shared by many of our clients, is work-life balance and a respect for the individual. This individual, at different times, is yourself, your spouse, your children, your community, your employees, your customers, and so one.
How did I respond to this article? Read the following story of a successful entrepreneur and a simple fisherman.
I wish I could remember precisely the story of a young, successful, hard-driving Ivy League B-School grad that takes a vacation at a very remote fishing village, and happens to meet a simple contented fisherman. Here’s the story as best I can remember.
The businessman observes that the fisherman has found a pristine fishing location that attracts a type of fish that may well be the next fad menu item. He engages the fisherman in a casual, but focused conversation that increasingly explores business opportunities, if the fisherman were only committed to exploiting them at a very high level.
For example, the businessman would ask, “I see that you only fish long enough to catch what you need for today’s meal. Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more?” To which the fisherman replies, “Why?” The businessman would then expand on the prior question, “Well, if you caught more fish, you could sell them, and use the profits to buy another boat, hire a helper, and catch even more fish.” Again, the fisherman asks, “Why?”
The Q&A continues, and the sophistication of the businessman’s questions continues to ratchet-up. “Why don’t you organize a consortium and purchase fishing rights to more territory so that you control future production and insulate yourself from predatory price competition?”
Eventually, our businessman has crafted a scenario leading to an IPO that would make the fisherman an instant multi-millionaire, the darling of talk shows, and the next host of American Idol. Once again, the fisherman asks, “Why?” to which the businessman answers with his final response, so that he could retire to a remote village, leave behind the insane pressures of business based solely on “more”, and fish quietly all day.
