WALLS, a force for peace?
Throughout history, there have been many walls erected from Hadrian’s Wall in 122 AD, the Berlin wall in 1961 to the Israeli West Bank Barrier in 1994.
The idea behind them all is always “to keep the peace” and yet inevitably then end up doing the opposite as they become symbols for oppression or restriction. Thankfully they all disappear in time, some like Hadrian’s Wall and the Berlin Wall have ceased to exist (except in small parts to commemorate their own demise), some have yet to fall.
It was amazing that some still think walling up over issues is a valid way to tackle them. History has shown us that this does not work.
In our businesses as they grow, just like the great wall, we must expand the base to support it, so we lengthen the “wall” and make it thicker, longer and wider, taller, and taller. We do this until it stretches into the distance and rises far taller than we imagined we could reach.
But as we build up that strong wall of stability, we are sacrificing in part our agility and adaptability, rather than having a huge uninterrupted landscape in which to work. We instead only have a restricted compound protected by walls. Don’t get me wrong, walls or boundaries help define who we are in business but at the same time, never lose sight of the fact that the more we try to protect our products and have a paranoid view of others out there, the more we will attract predators.
Cultivate a sense of trust and peace within your business and have respect for competitors. No one ever really does the same things in the exact same way anyhow.
