Comments for Carian Consulting

Comment on When the Energy is Aligned Anything is Possible by GARY DOUGLAS

GARY DOUGLAS — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:09:16 +0000

Collaborate or Evaporate! Who would have guessed that the information age, with all it’s hyper-communication thingies, would bring with it so much isolation? We all need human contact, often more than we admit. What better way for busy business owners to relate to other human beings, even sweaty ones, than by participating in a fun, healthy, outdoor event that raises money for a good cause? But there’s another important element to these events, perhaps less noticeable: collaboration. By their passionate involvement and support of charities, business owners are increasingly bringing sound business practices to the nonprofit world. For both marketing and operations, traditional ways of doing things are changing. Charity work is no longer the exclusive territory of “ladies who lunch.” Driving fundraising is too important. They certainly have a critical role to play, but charities recognize more than ever before that business owners are doers that can make good things happen – better, faster, smarter. In collaboration with every conceivable nonprofit organization, business owners, of companies large and small, are changing the way things get done in the world of philanthropy. Results show it, even in these uncertain times. Working hand-in-glove with the nonprofits’ executives and volunteers, business owners across the land are having a positive influence by showing charities how to respond to an almost universal severe drop in contributions. They’re doing so by collaborating on new, better ways to raise corporate contributions and to stimulate donor-planned giving. Best marketing and operational practices are finding their way into the foundations arena. It’s a tough economy out there. The good people who run and volunteer for charitable causes are more open than ever to help from business savvy people. The charities that continue to passively depend on the “kindness of strangers” are shrinking. Some may eventually evaporate. If you are in business and are looking for a way to beat your sense of isolation and to some meet wonderful people, find a good cause that needs your skills. If you are a charity that is wondering how to respond to the slow motion train wreck that is today’s economy, team up with a business owner to develop and implement a better strategy. The benefits are obvious and work both ways: collaborate or evaporate.

Comment on The New Normal – What Is It? by TOM FAUST

TOM FAUST — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:08:30 +0000

Barri, I’m not sure there ever was a “normal,” and I’m more sure than ever that there is no new “normal.” I suspect there never will be. I think it depends entirely on your own individual position. For those out of a job, nothing is normal. For those whose net worth lost something more than 50 percent, the world looks and feels different. For most of us, uncertainty about everything from socialism, to health care, to foreign policy makes any notion of normalcy irrelevant. I think we’re in a long period of “let’s see what today brings,” which means we’ve all got to be more alert than we have been. There is little comfort in the distribution curves of behavior, because it doesn’t last long enough to be meaningful. Everything is event driven. Take today for example: The Taliban are succeeding. Will they win? Probably not, but how long will it take to determine and what level of assets do we want to commit toward a given outcome. The most real answer is “we’ll see.” Is the economy recovering? A little yes and a little no. But, with something like 10 percent unemployment as far as the eye can see, what does recovery mean? If GDP rises by .0025 percent rather than falling by the same amount, what does that mean. We’ll see. Should we have a public option for health insurance? Almost certainly – it would bring down the cost of insurance, but does it inevitably lead to a single-payer system. Hard to say. We’ll see. Nothing about any of this looks or feels like “normal.” I say, we’d better all stay awake and sharpen up our skills on adapting to change. Make decision and don’t be afraid to move when the land shifts. Don’t worry about normal.

Comment on The New Normal – What Is It? by LAURA LEHRER

LAURA LEHRER — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:08:10 +0000

Barri, Great topic, and wonderfully presented. I have the same questions, and, although the answers are different for each of us, I believe there will be some fundamental threads common to them all. I think the new “normal” will: 1. be based on a reevaluation of our needs, wants, values and peer expectations. 2. result in a more careful, thoughtful consumer 3. promote a stronger sense of personal responsibility. 4. be a refreshing change from the old. 5. make us humbler, kinder and more insightful. 6. create exciting opportunities for new growth, both personally and in business. 7. be good for us. We’re better when we are given a challenge, and this was a challenge our society badly needed.

Comment on The New Normal – What Is It? by RACHEL OWENS

RACHEL OWENS — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:07:50 +0000

As with all things “new” you are correct the interpretation depends wholly on our own perceptions. I am hopeful that the new normal is centered more around living within ones means and paying attention to the people in our life and not to the things that we obtain.

Comment on The New Normal – What Is It? by SHERRY BENJAMINS

SHERRY BENJAMINS — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:07:30 +0000

I agree that this new normal is defined personally by each of us and takes on new meaning for our circumstances vary so much. Self-defining, self-managing is the new normal. I am taking the time to be more intentional about balance – working hard and playing too. Evaluating everything through a lens of “will this support our goals and dreams” or is this a short term monetary gain. I like this new normal – it is all good and I hope I get better in managing the unknown. David Whyte has wonderful examples of embracing the unknown and creating your own path…taking us back to Joseph Campbell. Time for us all to find our bliss. Ok, sounds idealistic…why not the new normal?

Comment on The New Normal – What Is It? by BILL SORNSTEIN

BILL SORNSTEIN — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:07:10 +0000

This is the central question that will be answered over the next few years. Regardless of where we end up, I believe that the “new normal” is shorthand for an acknowledgement that the financial world we live in is much riskier than we previously believed. Just as 9/11 changed the way we look at our physical security, the implosion of the financial markets in 2008 changed the way we look the economy and the markets. Just as the children of the 30′s were forever marked by the Great Depression, I think that the generation coming of age today have the current crisis ‘imprinted’ on their psyche. So the “new normal” will certainly mean different things to different generations. Ultimately, it will make us all a bit more fiscally conservative and less likely to blindly trust our financial institutions. Not necessarily a bad outcome….

Comment on The New Normal – What Is It? by DAVE KINNEAR

DAVE KINNEAR — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:06:51 +0000

Barri, Good posting and yes, the “New Normal” is the topic du jour. The answers do indeed seem to depend on who is answering the question. I’ve heard the full spectrum from things will get back to “normal” (meaning, I assume, pretty much the way they were) to “it isn’t coming back and nobody knows the new rules yet.” Intuition tells me that just as in every major economic adjustment before this one, things will be noticeably changed when we come out the other side. The “new normal” will be different for each company and individual. To make sure we do come out the other side of this valley, we may well need to continue to cut fixed expenses and creatively find ways to generate more revenue in what is very likely going to be a smaller consumer market. As you said, we can count on change and uncertainty. That will also provide great opportunities for those who take a positive outlook on things while recognizing the realities. Dave K.

Comment on The New Normal – What Is It? by MANAL RICHA

MANAL RICHA — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:06:31 +0000

Barri… OMG I cannot believe how well your blog is written! It is the uncertainty that is having us reconsider and redefine the New Normal. In such an economy out there, nothing is certain and for some reason we tend to look at the empty half of the cup vs. the full half. Things will and should start shifting soon. We have been through worse and made it! We will make it again. Thanks for your insight. Very inspiring.

Comment on The New Normal – What Is It? by Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:06:11 +0000

I ask myself those questions in one way or another every day! In our world the “new” normal is so very different from the normal we knew a year or 2 ago. We are seeing differences in everything from sales cycles to the demeanor of the people we speak with on the phone every day.

Comment on The New Normal – What Is It? by LARRY CASSIDY

LARRY CASSIDY — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:05:53 +0000

I work with over three-dozen businesses each month, and at mid-2009 there are two “certainties:” first, the “new normal” is that everyone is trying to figure out the “new normal;” and second, that whatever it looks like in 2010 and beyond, that will be different than in 2007/early-2008. Change has been happening forever, but the scope and pace is now at a new level. So — is the future being reinvented, or just “arriving” more quickly than we imagined? Probably a moot point — best to be on the move, as “staying put” feels very dicey.