row, row, row your boat

Row, row, row your boat

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream
[Full lyrics here]

(I am late to publish my #postaweek2017 for last week.)

In general, when it comes to life, the best way to live, is to not expend more energy than needed to accomplish a goal.  Rowing a boat against the current, or upstream is WAY HARDER, than just sitting in the boat and letting the river take you.  

This "Row, row, row your boat" thinking can be applied to:

• Career: There are rules to the game you're playing - know what those rules are and how it's being played before trying to change it and/or tell people what the rules should be.
• Sales: Don't go towards the people that have no interest in the problem you solve.  Go where people are looking for solutions, and your business makes sense for them.  This also applies to
• Fundraising (similar to sales): It's much easier to raise capital from folks who 1) understand the space you are in or the problem you are solving, 2) or who are interested in that space and want to expand their experience with you.
• Marketing (& sales): The idea that the "trend is your friend" is true.  If most businesses/people are working on figuring out a new trend in social media, trying to sell them large billboard signs (to throw an example out there) may be difficult.  Be where the market is and learn the distribution strategies to reach people where the people are.
• Building a team: Have people join the team that want to row with you, work shoulder to shoulder with you, follow you, grow/lead with you.  Getting people to work on things that only interest them because of the prestige or the money, will only motivate them for so long (or at all.)  
• Changing anything: When it comes to change, it's important to know what the current situation looks like.  Who are the key players?  Why does the current process, system, or anything exist the way it does?  What are the challenges?  What is the most important thing (MIT) of the people, process or systems that exist today.  Find out how to become or access the movers that MIT.  

Lately.  I have been applying the "Row, row, row your boat" principles to the topics that are coming up a lot lately in the ecosystems I am part of.  The topics of "Women in ___" (be it in the workplace, in tech, in startups, in leadership, in the C-Suite, etc...", and "Diversity" (be in race, gender, etc...).  My current belief is that we're missing a purposeful coordinated focus on identifying and influencing MIT in what'll really move the needle in a meaningful way.  That's why the whole topic of gender, of women in ___, of social equity and many similar topics have been so slow to change.  

Thoughts?

​--Arry