By Heather McCauley

 “The ideas are louder when there are fewer of them.” David C. Day

 We have been talking about getting off track, finding ourselves where we did not expect to be, getting back on the road and assuming that after having done all this extra work, we can make up some lost time.

What measure or comparisons are we making here?

Many of us will find ourselves dealing with uncertainty. In fact that is a given and usually, what most of us choose to do is to seek answers by making comparisons. After all, that’s the way things are generally done.

In our search, we network, go to breakfast meetings or lunches, finding commonalities in each business and making various comparisons based on these.

Unfortunately, whilst the idea in itself is in general an obvious one, it can and usually is counterproductive, as depending on what your objective is, there are many false paths of comparisons. Phases of comparisons requires attention to differences, differences are not about comparing your business to the detail of others who appear successful.

What we are essentially doing is attempting to find a model, a methodology and process that has never known a challenge or disappointment, and in that one scenario alone, you can spend the rest of your life looking.We are usually attempting to overlay someone else’s theory or ideas onto a structure that may have no resemblance to our own organizational situation, may or may not have the existing capacity to accommodate such a vast integration into a structure and its people who have vastly different commercial responsibilities and roles within our environment. The upshot is one size does not fit all, never has, never will.

What comparisons have you been making to date?

 Heather McCauley is a Cause & Effective Associate who helps not for profits and small business discover better ways to grow and, in the process, win friends and get the support they need.