Theme.
So, as the Beatles once sang, this is Christmas. After another challenging year for many of the world's small businesses we decided to take a look back at some of the things we didn't have time to talk about during 2021 and celebrate some of the good stuff.
Seen.
Small businesses really do make the world go around
We're sure that pretty much everyone, everywhere has seen examples of local small businesses using extreme ingenuity to survive the past two years.
Ben shared an interesting one from his local High Street - the three shops that managed to somehow stay open through several lockdowns remain open but the ones that didn’t aren’t there now.
Is raging against the dying of the light one way to keep the lights on? We think it might be.
Read.
There's room for all shapes and sizes
My favourite read of 2021 has to be Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed. There's so much good stuff in there but for me, the opening chapter on something he calls cognitive diversity, or breadth of thought if you prefer, really jumped out. Instead of seeing diversity in the workplace as a box-ticking exercise he beautifully illustrates why it's anything but that and how powerful it can be.
For Ant, hiring people who think differently is a great idea but making sure all of them share a business's values is the key.
For Ben, good habits and good working practices are the things that will get these teams working in harmony.
Might meetings which encourage equal talk time be a good place to start?
Learned.
How do you switch off?
So as the Christmas and New Year holidays fall upon us will you pause to think through what type of break you need? And, is the break you need the same as the one your business needs you to take?
Many founders we know don’t always see the value of them taking a break. If you're a founder who does, what’s the value to you and what’s the value to your business of you taking a break? How might your business benefit from you being away? By taking a step back from your business will your colleagues benefit as a result?
And finally.
If you are planning to set your goals for 2022 during your Christmas break, here's a quote you might like, "Set a goal so big that you can't achieve it until you grow in to a person who can".
Don’t forget to check out the accompanying podcast version of #founderhacks for a tantalising live experience of team atomex!
