but really it IS personal.
Let’s call this for what it is.
Business is what happens when the people in charge (of said business) want it that way, personally.
Whether they are conscious of it or not, individual people, leading to collectives of people, make the choices of business.
Business is personal.
When there is change, sometimes it’s because of a new idea, an ideal, a number.
But sometimes it is just “easier” to go along with the status quo because the space isn’t there for anything new “That’s just business. That’s how we do it.” – the mental and emotional space just isn’t there to change even if you wanted to.
My personal favorite “That’s how it’s always been done.” With that response it is CLEAR that thinking about things and/or doing things differently is not a priority (for good or bad.)
In my lifetime, I’ve heard the line “It’s not personal, it’s business” when it comes to people losing jobs among other things. When this happens, I’ve seen some instances when this is truly a last resort, there is nothing left to do. Usually it is purely for financial reasons, maybe things took a turn that was unexpected and there was just no way to keep going. At the same time, maybe there was a pivot that needed to be made to deliver the product and this is the best way, or to keep a savings to keep the company going.
I’ve been on both sides of that choice. It is harder on the receiver but it can be absolutely agonizing and crushing for the decision maker as well.
At the end of the day though, someone is ultimately making a call to change the way they do business. A person – making a personal call, usually supported by societal and business expectations in some way.
Because businesses are NOT people, people are people, businesses are businesses – despite what the government thinks. There are rules and regulations in place by the government to keep the damage at a minimum. But we also know that the government’s best intentions sometimes don’t work as they should – no matter what side of the aisle you are on. Just because something is written down, notarized, enshrined or enforced doesn’t mean it’s true, right, just and supportive.
Businesses are BUILT BY people. It is the people in the business who make the decisions. And as people, we are not purely logical, unable to see past our basis no matter how hard we try. In some cases it is understandable that there are limitations on the personal liability of a person (and those they support) in business. I argue though that if we really understood, respected, honored and worked with how personal business is, we might not need some of these things within our societies and governments.
Let’s not forget that we are making up everything in our world at any given time. What we now consider “business as usual” was created from personal interests, some of them good, bad or indifferent. All of this just happened to be agreed enough upon by the people in power that it became law and became common.
In other instances when I’ve been told “It’s not personal, it’s business” I have had an objection, a concern, a question, and possibly an improvement. Usually it is one that makes everyone happy and gives people more autonomy on all levels, while the current solution limits that.
In some cases, it directly affected me, and in some it did not.
It always hits a nerve.
I am lucky enough to be able to take the hit, absorb the cost/losses.
In some cases I’ve understood and respected the decision. I may not have directly agreed with it but appreciated their transparency in their actions. Those are the easier ones, where there is no ill-will or greed driving the action, where there is just change in vision and strategy.
In the other cases, which were more frequent, it put me out of sync and out of resonance with my employer. It ultimately meant I would leave the company and/or not give the effort I was giving before (which was usually above and beyond expectations). I could see where these decisions were leading and it wasn’t good.
It is hard to support things when you can see deep into the heart of the matter. When you realize that there is no respect given to the others within the company doing the work. Or something just doesn’t feel right, something has been forfeited and not for the better. This is when the “It’s not personal, it’s just business” gets chanted like a broken record.
At the end of the day though, someone is ultimately making a call to change the way they do business. A person – making a personal call, usually supported by societal and business expectations in some way.
Why else would millions of people work for themselves, trying to opt out of what “business as usual” has been for decades? “Business as usual” has not supported the people within, around and impacted by companies and won’t keep doing so if we keep doing “Business as usual.”
To pretend that business isn’t personal (in some way shape or form) is like being in denial about the sun and moon. Just because you say they don’t exist (or you don’t notice them) doesn’t mean that they don’t define and support our life on this earth.
All around us business creates our lives, creates our societies, our families, our friends, our norms, our social and societal expectations. Business creates the worlds we live in which means business has the opportunity and I believe the obligation to create worlds that are beneficial and supportive to humans.
Business is deeply personal – always was and will be. Just like the sun and the moon.
