Twelve Steps Of Business Change
These twelve steps are based on AA. Most of them are counter intuitive and apply on a personal level. I know there are thousands of books on change but none of them are as effective or as open source like as AA. Besides, the idea of spirituality - having an open mind and getting over your ego - has a direct correlation with web 2.0 and social software applications. Strange stuff, huh? But for any person willing to change it is a good course of action. Besides, it is free. I changed some of the wording to make it more applicable for business. Of course, these steps are only half of the solution. I'll get to the other stuff soon. Please add your thoughts on how to apply them.
- We admitted we were powerless over people, markets, and events -- that our lives had become unmanageable trying to control them all.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Came to? It means you woke up to the facts of reality.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. Means that your approcah to things is not working anymore and that all of the calulating, measuring, pettiness, and scheming are over.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong
promptly admitted it. - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other people, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
There are many references to God and a higher power. For those that have issues with that, go back to step 3 and 11, and re-read, "as we understood him". The steps are about getting honest with yourself, doing the right thing, and putting your ego to rest.
No, you don't have to become a religious nut. Spirituality means that you can share and experience joy, compassion, passion, awe, and that you can think with an open mind. It's about connecting, and creating and thinking in terms of abundance. How would you apply this stuff to a community?