Where’s the space in your business?
January 31, 2007 · → 9 Comments
As a small business owner we often try to squeeze as much into the day as we can. We want to feel, and be, productive. We focus on what we need to do.
But lately I have been focusing on equally on what I DO as well as what I DON’T do. The stuff I include as well as the stuff I leave out. Not just the time I spend with clients and on the business but also the spaces in between.
There are so many parallels with this approach but most of the ones that I can think of have an artistic influence. When it comes to music, and jazz comes to mind immediately, the difference between capable and talented is not in the notes but in the space in between the notes. The same for artists and for cooks (sometimes you just need to know what to leave out).
And so I have found the same goes for me. When dealing with technology and design it is sometimes best to have enough space for people to step in. When not to install the latest upgrades or software (the new Vista operating system comes to mind at the moment). When to leave a client to experience an application rather than jumping in to show them how I would do it.
When I think of some of the professions that my friends and clients work in I can see parallels for them as well.
Sales person – the space to let the customer decide vs going for the close
Beautician – the treatment that you don’t use vs doing what you do for everyone else
Learning & Development trainers – the space to think about what just happened vs moving on to the next thing
Life Coach – asking the questions you don’t know the answer to vs knowing where the conversation is going
Where are the spaces in your business?
Do you have time between to-dos, meetings and commitments to stop, breathe, stretch and consider?
Which is more productive – and over-booked diary or a diary with space?
The picture above was taken January 27, 2007 at Wanda Beach and fits so well with this idea of space. Surfing doesn’t just happen when you are on a wave, you are still out there even in the space between waves.
Brilliant photo Leah! I hear you loud and clear about space – (I wonder why that could be?)
Without the space between the notes, music is just noise. Without the space in between the waves, you’re simply exhausted, dumped, or worse…
It’s the space in between the busy-ness that fuels us and propels us to greater heights. Here’s to a spacious 2007!
Wonderful Leah….the space…is so important. It is also allowing the space to just be. Just a powerful peaceful presence to give yourself the space to just be.
Lovely reminder Leah
[...] of my regular reads is the Working Solo blog. Today Leah Maclean had a great post entitled “Where is the Space in Your Business?” The darn article is so well written and struck such a chord with me I started to tear [...]
Love it. Andy Summers from The Police (might have been quoting a Jazz muso when he) said “It’s not what you put into music that makes it special, but what you leave out.”
Listening to his later stuff after the band broke up, he probably should have left most of it out…
hi, i am a new reader and a small business owner as well.
this is a post i can totally relate to. sometimes, it’s the space that makes a difference to our day.
Thanks for dropping by Risa and for raising your hand as another person that finds space important. I will look forward to having you hang around some more.
BTW I love the graphic work on your site.
Great article… spaces are required in everything that we do. Thanks for the reminder.
Thank you Leah. Will see you around.
[...] MacLean speaks to the subject in Where’s the space in your business? at Working Solo. Do you have time between to-dos, meetings and commitments to stop, breathe, [...]