Serious Business
Owning a business means coming up with systems. The systems can be adopted, adapted or largely your own. You have an incredible amount of control providing you have the self control to endure. Simplicity is desirable but complicated is comprehensive.
Building a business will be full on frightening unless you have nerves of steel and no trouble sleeping through sirens. Backsliding is par for the course and mimics the state of the art. Even if you see the business as something other than you, there will be moments when you will walk into a room as its sole representative. You will shake many hands and some of those handshakes will be awkward. Whether you like it or not, some of the awkwardness will come from you. As you willingly engage in all the world has to offer, sometimes, your prejudices will get the better of you. How you handle these moments is at once very important and inconsequential because:
A coin flips high in the air and all eyes in the room rise and fall with it. There are unwritten rules that allow us to cut each other breaks. We meet pieces of people and catch glimpses of the rest. As we get to know one another we get to know more about ourselves.
Promoting a business can be delicious, downright dirty, or deadly serious. It can also be playful, rude or utterly irresponsible. If you are addicted to failure you will tear yourself down. If you are addicted to success you will build yourself up and if you are addicted to thinking you might do both.
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- Love:
This entry was posted by Barry on November 23, 2010 at 5:30 am, and is filed under business. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.
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Hi Cindy,
There is a lot here in your response to my shots in the dark. (I call them that lovingly of course) One sentence you wrote sticks in my brain:
“I think I removed complications by simplifying and aggregating. And as I mastered processes, I simplified steps”
Of late, I have found myself doubling back to trim the fat off my own systems. The very fat I once thought rounded things out so nicely. The pool player analogy makes it clear that KISS would better stand for “Keep It Simple, Scholar” because often, it seems that, only through oodles of self-examination do we arrive at the simple path. Our wonderfully complex brains often confuse ability with capability and lead us to create gardens we could never realistically care for.
And still there is a lot more in your response than this and I look forward to more of your thoughts and to extending this conversation out over time.
Thank you.
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Hi Alexandra,
I am still smiling from figuring out jb’s comment. Which of course drives the point home. I visited Mr. Bartkowiak for his Fortieth birthday this week and while we were smoking on his porch he said something to the effect of this face to face feeling more comfortable than any of the previous. When I thought about it, I realized he was right. Funny thing is, I think we spent less time talking on this visit.
I agree with you that a slow unraveling is what makes people so interesting. Thank you for unraveling along with us.
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I was actually thinking about that yesterday (when I was walking done to the store *cough*). Talked less, more comfort (I was distracted at times too — pretty common for me.) Thanks for making the trip. . . I thought Saturday was a near perfect day. . . I felt like we did nothing and it was . . . cool.
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About Barry (46 posts)
I reside in slower, lower Delaware with my wife and our furry family. I am a carpenter and a building project manager.





Barry – philosophy of business, eh?? that’s a complicated complex, yes? A human body is complex. You can’t remove an organ and still have it function. Surgery is complicated – a step by step difficulty.
I always thought it was my job to make the design and construction process simple for clients. I think I removed complications by simplifying and aggregating. And as I mastered processes, I simplified steps, so it really was easier for clients, not just a simpler explanation.
Some of the greatest pool players are boring to watch b/c they set up the simple shots. genius at work.
Now I really think we need to figure out simple models to explain the complexity of lifestyles and built environments, not just the complications of design/build process. we need new metaphors about how changing one thing affects the whole and shift the conversation to quality of life, not just efficiency. thanks for the thoughtful post, Cindy @urbanverse