Thought: Check your Business Pulse

In this month of health, we are looking at public, personal and business health and have provided a checklist of things to attend to for your own business wellbeing.  It’s a great recap of all the 2017 content program we’ve enjoyed bringing to you this year.   Head As Basement Jaxx crooned in the 90’s, “where’s your head at?”, it’s the all-important question that really sets up your own business direction.  As we’ve seen in our last month’s topic on innovation, it’s no longer just enough to have a good idea.  Our business world is moving at breakneck speed and those businesses not prepared to constantly challenge their own business models are at risk of being left behind.  So, our advice is to look at what you are currently doing and to continually ask yourself, your staff and your customers what the business problem is that you are solving, and how that could be done in new and different ways.  For a crash course on innovation, check out our Facebook page for our livestream of October’s Insight expert innovator panel and consider the secrets of the world’s most innovative company.   Heart Closely linked to the strategy of business is your purpose for being.  This asks not only what you are doing for your customers, but why?  Herein lies your raison d’être and cuts to the core of what you are doing.  Chinese sage Confucius has been oft quoted as saying “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. It speaks to your need to have a higher calling or mandate for getting up each morning and putting your energies into your job or business.  At the top of the year our February theme was The Business of Benefit and we looked at how businesses that are purpose-driven also outperform other businesses in profit and success.  You can explore this theme (or refresh your memory) from our February theme page.   Soul Although harder to define, the soul is the essence of a company.  It is the sum of all the conversations, interactions, and motivations of a business.  Ken Segall from Insanely Simple insists that every company has a soul: “Every company has a distinct set of values that colors its priorities and behaviors. Companies believe in different things to different degrees, including innovation, value, quality, freedom, choice, price, and so on. This unique mix is visible in a company’s products.”  In July we started the new financial year not at the shrine to wealth but at the well of happiness with Dr Saamdu Chetri from the Buhtan Gross National Happiness Centre.  Our audience with Dr Saamdu is a must-see, even just for the mediation at the start and the happiness song at the end. (Our apologies for the bad camera angle at the start of the video).   Eyes Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder, but there are some universal design laws that show that good looks aren’t merely skin deep.  Since the time of Pythagoras and Euclid, the idea of a Golden Ratio—dimensions that are pleasing to the eye—has influenced mathematicians, artists and philosophers. The ratio of approximately 1.6:1 can be seen in the Notre Dame cathedral and the contemporary architecture of le Corbusier, through to the industrial items and even websites we view today. Incorporating great design into your business is essential to build your brand and establish trust with consumers and tastemakers.  The Office Space celebrates timeless design in architecture, furniture, and art which creates an important impression not only for your clients when they meet with you, but also for how you feel about your business as you come to work each day.  In July this year we explored The Business of Design and celebrated those in our offices and our community who are keeping Australia beautiful.   Ears First Century Greek philosopher Epictetus did the maths and worked out a simple rule: “We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak”. Almost across every Insight theme we hosted this year, our experts tapped the same vein of gold.. listen to your customers.  Discovering what your customers are experiencing–and really hearing what they have to say about it–is not only good practice, but it’s what makes your business tick.  For this reason, we’d love to invite your own feedback to help us shape our 2018 content and Insight program.  Please click here complete a tick box of suggestions and a text box to offer your own.   Mouth “Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. …Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble” (Rabbi Yehuda Berg).  In May, hot off the tails of the Sydney Writers Festival, we focused on the business, the pleasure, the necessity, and the possible redundancy of words. From this thematic launching point we explored the power of words as a business tool, medium for communication, and catalyst for connection.  Read our own words on the topic with a Thought piece that explores why it’s important for us to bring you great content (in a combination of quick bites and more indulgent word counts), and how you can communicate effectively in a business environment with an increasingly short attention span.   Hands For us, hands speak of connection to others. “No man is an island entire of itself” (John Donne, 1624).  There’s no denying the inherent human need for connection, and the great power of the collective.  In September, it was all about Community as we explored why and how we make connections with those we work, live and play with.  Community, alongside Commerce and Culture, is a mainstay of The Office Space’s mission statement.  An incredible network of people both within and beyond the walls of our offices contribute to our events, activities and business interactions.  To understand more about how to create communities of influence in the real world, the rules of engagement in the digital world, and how to cultivate an effective culture in the workplace, check out our Community Insight recap with Councillor Jess Scully, Weit Pruim and Stuart Chater.   So how did you fare? We hope you have learned with us as we’ve explored these themes this year and are excited to embark on a new journey with you in 2018!