Aviation of Business

posted by Andrew Hartley - Business Consultant & Entrepreneur on Jun 19

Okay, so I’m learning to not make promises before I am sure I can follow through. I’m having a bit of writer’s block on the posts I’m trying to write about the “sacred six” instruments. I want to make sure they are interesting for you, the reader, while still making them as accurate as possible and as “real” as possible. I thought that laying out that pattern for myself would make writing easier, but I’ve found that it constrains more than anything, and makes it MORE difficult to write about them. So, while I will no longer promise that the sacred six will be the next five posts, I will promise that - eventually - I’ll get to them.

Perhaps I’m trying too hard to write posts that are substantial (read: longer) and not just short little blurbs - I don’t want to waste your time if you’re here reading my blog. On the other hand, shorter posts written more often will bring more visitors, which is a goal I have for this blog. So I’m a little torn.

So leave me a note in the comments telling me whether you would prefer shorter posts written more often or longer, more substantial posts written less often. In return, you have my thanks, and the short story in the following post.

Namaste,
Andrew

posted by Andrew Hartley - Business Consultant & Entrepreneur on Apr 27

Have you ever noticed the paths that are worn into the grass from where people walk when they don’t use the sidewalks? Why does that happen? It could be argued that sidewalks are a way to keep people in line and conforming to what someone else wants them to do, and that the fact that there ARE paths worn into the grass means that the entrepreneur mentality is widespread in the human population - this is why people don’t follow the path laid out for them by the sidewalks.  Walking in the grass is a way to buck conformity and “blaze your own path.”  We’ve all read the following poem a million times:

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowthThen took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

However, once everyone starts taking “the road less traveled by,” it becomes more like a path cut in a field by cattle… follow the leader.  Humans are just as likely to fall into the “herd mentality” as any other animal. 

Sidewalks are just convenient borders, not necessarily useful paths.  So the fact is that paths get cut into the grass by human nature, which is to take the path of least resistance.  The only real “trailblazing” entrepreneur was the first person who walked the path - before it was even a path - and most likely it was done more out of laziness than out of “risky,” trailblazing, entrepreneurial moxie. 

So what is one to do?  Beyond the obvious environmental and aesthetic reasons to avoid the “beaten” path, I believe that the simple act of walking off the path beaten by so many cattle-minded folks will begin to train your mind to be different than others - which, we all know, is step number one to becoming an entrepreneur.

So do you want to be like the rest of the herd, killing the grass and making lazy trails across your corporate or campus lawns?  Or do you want to think about what you do and why you do it, taking care not to destroy something to get where you’re going? Leave a comment telling us how you train yourself to think and act differently than others so you can get what others don’t have!

posted by Andrew Hartley - Business Consultant & Entrepreneur on Feb 21

Where does one find business wisdom? Provided the right mindset, it can be found nearly anywhere - music, fiction books, everyday conversations with family and friends, etc.  The trick is to make the business mindset a habit.  The more you consciously think about business and entrepreneurship, the more you will subconsciously think about business and entrepreneurship.  The more you are subconsciously thinking about it, the more these nuggets of wisdom will appear to you - all around you.

 There are hundreds, thousands, even more business books out there.  Each one is packed full of business wisdom, written in a business-y way.  Some of these books are very good - Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad is credited by many entrepreneurs as THE book that got them started.  A classic that is also cited by many is Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich.  There are many more books that are recommended highly by entrepreneurs and others.  Check out Ben Casnocha’s Book List (he’s one of the most prolific readers I’ve ever seen); Guy Kawasaki’s Ten Favorite Books; or see Joyful Jubilant Learning’s A Love Affair with Books 2007 in March.

Business books are important.  They have lots of useful knowledge packed into them.  These books are written in perfect business fashion - efficient!  Lots of information in a small space can be good, but it is hard to remember everything - it’s hard to put all of it into practice and make it useful.

Most importantly, however, if you focus on business books to the exclusion of all the other business wisdom that surrounds you, you’re actually missing out on the best learning and the most important lessons. 

As an example of this, I recently read Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy.  In the final book of the trilogy, one of the main characters, Will, is told by an angel, Xaphania, that he has important things to do with his life.  His answer, and Xaphania’s response, is below:

“What work have I got to do then?” said Will, but went on at once, “No, on second thought, don’t tell me. I shall decide what I do.  If you say my work is fighting, or healing, or exploring, or whatever you might say, I’ll always be thinking about it. And if I do end up doing that, I’ll be resentful because it’ll feel as if I didn’t have a choice, and if I don’t do it, I’ll feel guilty because I should. Whatever I do, I will choose it, no one else.”

            “Then you have already taken the first steps towards wisdom,” said Xaphania.

I love this passage for several reasons.  I like the reference to personal choice, which is obvious in the passage.  But I also like the underlying message, which is that even though you have the ability to choose anything you want to do, you STILL have to choose, and you still have to DO!  Sitting still, or analysis paralysis, does not count as a choice.  Knowing that you have important things to do is only beneficial if you make a choice and do something, even if you aren’t sure it is the “right” thing - the thing you are “supposed” to do.  Do something, anything.  Whatever you think might be that “right” thing.

Like Will Rodgers said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”  Get up and get out there. Do something.

Make it your habit to recognize these nuggets of wisdom… then share them by leaving us a comment telling us what you’ve learned!

posted by Andrew Hartley - Business Consultant & Entrepreneur on Feb 3

One of the most important things to do when considering becoming an entrepreneur is to know your “whys.”  Why do you want to own your own business?

This seems like the most obvious thing that anyone could say - that it would be easy to explain why someone would want to become an entrepreneur.  Some common answers to “why” include:

• Be my own boss
• Set my own schedule
• Make more money
• Enjoy my work
• Etc. etc.

Having said that, I feel that most of the above reasons are cop-outs.  Everyone wants to set their own schedule, make more money, and enjoy his/her work.  But why do only a few decide to become entrepreneurs?  It’s possible to make more money and enjoy your work in a “traditional” career-path… so what’s the REAL reason you want to start a business?

This takes some more thinking and soul-searching, because in reality starting your own business takes time and commitment - so “making your own schedule,” at least at first, means scheduling yourself 12-16 hour days and “burning the midnight oil” more often than you have since undergraduate school (only then it was more fun and you didn’t remember it the next day!).

So I have come to the conclusion that to make the decision to become an entrepreneur, you must be a very self-aware person; often you know, deep-down, that you want to start and run your own business, but you don’t truly know why.  So you fall back to one or more of the cop-out answers above.  And then, if you’re lucky, you have an epiphany as to REALLY why you want to be an entrepreneur.

I had that epiphany just the other day, and I think it will help me get off my ass and actually start moving more quickly to the goals I’ve set for my businesses and my life.

So here it is:

My father died when I was about twelve or thirteen years old.  I take a lot of his traits and interests - in fact, I’m sure the main reason I went into aviation is because of Dad.  He was a private pilot and a mechanic for a major airline, and I thought he was the coolest person in the world.  Thinking back, I may be kind of lucky - in a way - that he died while I was so young, because now he will always be coolest person in the world to me.

But this isn’t specifically about Dad - it’s actually about Mom.  After Dad died, it was just Mom, my brother, and me.  Mom had been working part-time for the county.  Though we’ve never really talked about it, I’m sure the plan was ultimately to retire on Dad’s pension and some savings - a good plan, had it worked out.  But it didn’t.  Dad died, and Mom and we two kids had to make do.  And we did - well.  My brother and I wanted for just about nothing, and mom worked very hard and long hours to provide everything that we needed - all of us.

But now, Mom is still working long hours and is “buying back” retirement years (she works in public education) so she can actually retire at a reasonable age.  Fortunately, Mom works in a field that she is passionate about, and she makes it about the kids, not just about making a living - so it is bearable for her.

I, however, have not found a job that makes me want to put in twelve-hour days (or more) - not one where I am making someone else rich.  My time is my time, and if I’m getting paid for eight hours, I’m rarely going to work beyond that if I can help it.  But if I start and run my own business - if I become an entrepreneur - each and every hour I work directly benefits me.  My pay does not become diluted if I spend more time working. 

Most importantly, if something were to happen to me, my wife wouldn’t be left holding the bags, so to speak!  My mom had to sacrifice too much to ensure that my brother and I had everything we needed because the plans that she and Dad made were dashed when he died unexpectedly.  I don’t want that to happen to my wife should I go down in flames someday.