I was in a dance class a few weeks ago and we spent a few minutes at the beginning of the class talking about stretching and how important flexibility is in dancing. Once you get your splits, Lanea said, everything gets a lot easier. Strength is just as important because being flexible alone doesn’t mean you can get very far. You have to be strong and flexible, and it’s in that intersection we find mobility.
Well, I know what you’re all wondering. Do I have my splits? Not yet! But I’m definitely working on them.
I couldn’t help but put this little gem into the context of business. If you’re a strong business but not a flexible one, what happens? What if you’re a flexible business but not strong? Can a business actually move forward in its goals without both strength and flexibility?
I worked for a company at one point who would never say no to any customer order, even if it was actually impossible for us to do. We could be out of a raw ingredient, not have enough time to turn it around, be already overwhelmed with orders – but the answer was always yes. To me, this is a great example of flexibility without strength. We said, yes, of course we can bend that way – but it was because we were afraid of making the customer angry or losing them altogether. And the toll it took on the team was very, very high. Strength in business means that sometimes you have to say no – there is a cost either way. The question is who pays the price.
On the flip side, I worked with a client who was absolutely rigid in his definition of success: bringing in billable work. This is certainly a definition of success, and a critical element in a consulting company, but you can imagine how this impacted employees. They knew that the only aspect of their work deemed valuable was if they brought in relevant work or not, and it meant that other KPIs were neglected and allowed to underperform. The strength was there in this case, but the lack of flexibility meant that the culture of the organization was not empowering.
Mobility means being able to move in the direction you want to. It means that you are not pushed and pulled in whatever direction the world around you wants you to go: you have your choice, your goals, your convictions, and you can move in whatever direction is going to support those things. You are strong enough to withstand the onslaught but flexible to bend under pressure. You are less prone to injury, more able to enjoy the work and the environment, and more creative in your practice.
Activity: Look at your business. Where do you see strength? Where do you see flexibility? What is an opportunity you were not able to take due to lack of strength or flexibility?
How might your business get stronger? More flexible? Interested in exploring how these concepts apply to your business? Fill out the form below!