Before joining me on this short trip to far outville, let's begin at the best question not to ask yourself before skydiving.
Does this make sense?
More specifically, does it make sense to think about the beauty of a company?
I'm betting on it
The metrics we read about in blogs and autobiographies or watch in interviews concentrate on product, market size, sales, revenue, profit, competition, margins, and even core company culture to attract the best team. It isn't often that we hear an entrepreneur speaking directly about the beauty of their company, and even today it's rare for them to describe that beauty as essential to company success.
When I write of company beauty I'm not referring to gorgeous products, else we may confuse brothels and Apple with a beautiful company. Both of those examples could be beautiful, but an attractive offering is only a byproduct of a beautiful company. It's one external signal among all the inner workings of the entire enterprise.
How do we begin
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so strict rules make little sense for constructing a handsome company. I'm going to assume you have gotten past the substantial hurdle of finding your niche.
Identify three things that you associate with beauty and jot down a quick sentence about how your company exemplifies each of these qualities.
My list right now:
- Cultivate an environment of calm joyful focus1
- Provide all reasonable customers with an unmatched experience of satisfaction and trust
- Create separate areas for calm focus where the team can create with minimal distraction, mixed with inspirational open areas with scenic natural views and art
That's it you're done with the first step. That is the foundation of helping to create a beautiful company. Get your team on board by creating their own lists and reduce the set into one company charter with ~10 elements of beauty. Update the list periodically as a company, to promote growth and alignment changes. Encourage and call attention to the folks who strive for and champion the essence of what makes your business beautiful.
- Calm and joyful isn't necessarily predictable. It also entails rooting out and removing bullies and negative influences