Bottom-Up Enterprise by Madhu Viswanathan

Author:Madhu Viswanathan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Madhu Viswanathan
Published: 2016-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9: Guiding Values

Image 9.01: Guiding Values.

We have spent the last several chapters talking about the issues surrounding the successful design, launching, and sustaining of a bottom-up enterprise. In this chapter we’ll reflect on many of the lessons that we have learned over the years in going through this process, and we will delineate the guiding values that have helped to keep us on course. We believe these values and lessons will be of significant importance to you as you go forth with your own enterprise.

Guiding values include:

• EQ: To Get Things Done

• Do Your Best; Accept the Worst – In Fact, the Two May Coexist

• Take the High Road and Stay There

• Be Thoughtful in Adversity – Others’ and Ours

• Go to the Next Level of Understanding – Peel the Onion

• Get Over Yourself, So You Can See and Experience More

• What You Do Matters More Than What You Say You Will Do, Think, Like To Do, or Want to Do – Enact

• If One Relationship Is Dispensable, Then All Relationships Are Dispensable – Or Viewing Individuals Not as Resources but as People to Develop to Realize Their Potential

• Intertwined Destinies – Not Replaceable Parts

• Be Aware of Your Power, and Lack of It for Those You Work With

• View People Not Based On Where They Are In Life, But On How Far They Have Traveled And Through What Terrain Or Gauging How Far Someone Has Come In Life, Not Where They Are

• Nurture Leadership Among Those Who Have Not Had a Chance

• Avoid an “I Cannot Do This Without You” and “You Cannot Do This Without Me” Mentality

EQ: To Get Things Done

If IQ is about ideas and what to do, then arguably, EQ is about how to get them done. In a setting where institutional mechanisms are in place and rules are enforced, ideas have a relatively smoother translation to practice. In subsistence contexts where relationships rather than rules are in play, emotional quotient becomes critically important. Dealing with a range of emotions, working with people, showing patience and empathy and so forth, become the hallmark of individual and organizational identity.

The difference between EQ and IQ is often the difference between what to do and how to do it, or ideas versus their implementation. EQ includes sensing, listening, empathizing, communicating, and conducting oneself in different forums. Not politicizing, personalizing, posturing or being cynical are among the important elements here.

By politicizing, we mean using means other than the issues on their merit and straightforward communication to achieve goals. In a one-on-one interactional environment, our words mean a lot more. And the means we use are eventually privy to everyone. The common denominator that may cut across different stakeholders is a sustained identity in terms of how we go about achieving goals as well; we need to be consistent with what we are trying to accomplish and how. There is a social ethic that goes with trying to achieve social goals.

By personalizing, we mean taking criticisms and disagreements personally. A thick skin is a good prerequisite in this arena.

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