In Roger Miller's song he refers to England as a country that swings from one cultural mood to another. Some call them "mood swings." "Mood swings" is a popular phrase to describe how easy it has become for people to accept a "manufactured excuse" for allowing people to behave with "less restraint." We put up with them because we need something from them in return. The "Law of Give and Take."
I have been introduced to people and warned about how they have the ability to exhibit some "mood swings." He is a good business leader, but be careful, he has some terrible "mood swings." The warning comes with the implication to accept this lack of restraint as "our part" of the giving in the pendulum swings give and take developments. It is sold as if our tolerance for their lack of restraint is a bargain. We accept "mood swings" as a friendly term. The truth remains, that leader does not respect us enough to restrain from permitting flashes of impropriety to interfere with our desire to build good relationships. The "Law of Give and Take" begins its motions.
We learn to take some of the bad with the good. However, we need sufficient good from those leaders in order to permit us enough desire to "give" more tolerance than we usually provide. In order to continue to do business, we must provide the "give" portion of this relationship that appears to be swinging toward the "take" side of the pendulum. When someone has a terrible "mood swing" and decides to share it with us, they have begun the "take" side of the pendulum swing. We learn how to tolerate this lack of restraint as the "mood swings" unfavorably tilted to the "take" side of the pendulum. We build invisible pendulums of tolerance, swinging from one side of "give" to the other side of "take." The "Law of Give and Take" begins to swing like a pendulum do. What happens when the "give and take" pendulum has nowhere to go?
What happens when the "give and take" pendulum has nowhere to go?
We all deal with multiple levels of "give and take" in our lives. Life does not function well in a vacuum. As a result, people crossing paths with other people becomes a slippery game of give and take. Adjusting how we deal with people is a forever process that causes our senses to learn how to develop pendulum swinging techniques. We learn how to develop and operate our lives with differing degrees of pendulum swinging.
Some have mastered how to manage long pendulum movements very well. Others have a shorter line that moves out of control very quickly. Whatever the case, our worlds intersect with give and take situations. The world of managing pendulum swinging is a complicated world that every person has had to learn how to tolerate.
The real trouble begins when we permit "money making" to become part of the pendulum swinging process. Without money, pendulum swinging management involves only relationships. People become only familiar with how relationships, good and bad, drive the pendulum movements to and fro. The pendulums swing as the relationships go. When profits become at stake with how the pendulum swings, new rules apply. Old tolerances find new interferences. Wow. What used to work well on swinging the pendulum from the "give and take" invisibilities provided by the relationship tolerances, no longer work when money becomes a factor. Monetary walls show up. Pendulums swing into new walls. Pendulums have nowhere to go. Dollars are used to build walls, instead of relationships. Since humans cannot function well in a vacuum, those walls must be removed! Therefore, we make rules. Rules are complicated, expensive and necessary. Rules are in place to permit the pendulums more room to move. That is why we are cautious about allowing a neighbor to lift heavy rocks from our back yard. If they get hurt enough the potential result is that we may get sued. Money takes over the swinging pendulum song.
What happens when the "give and take" pendulum has nowhere to go? What happens when the money stops flowing to remove the invisible walls? Our tolerances for swinging comes to an end. Pendulums need motion to become effective. Too many walls limit the pendulums from "free" movement. Too much money, too many rules...all contribute to too many limitations, too many walls. With too many walls in place to restrict the "free flowing" pendulums we have become accustomed to enjoy, people can and will jump ship. Given enough walls to manage can cause the people to become irritated. Irritated enough, people can and will revolt. Keep this in mind as you lead your people and customers into doing the things you want your business to do. A leader has a lot at risk when they begin managing the multiple pendulums that surround their business model. Pendulums are mixing about with other pendulums, trying to avoid crashing into each other and the walls we make that govern their movements.
Business leadership must bring a whole new world of pendulum swinging to the table. Business leadership requires the act of adding monetary levels of accountability to the unwritten "loose" laws of pendulum swinging. Pendulum swinging becomes very different when the wallet shrinks with each decision related to any sense of "give and take." Business leaders must learn how to manage the money while permitting the pendulums to flow correctly. It is not an easy task. To strike a balance between the pendulum swinging from good to bad, with the added pressures of making the money work correctly, is an art. Learn to accept these responsibilities so you, the leader, do not become recognized as a "mood swing" contributor. Leaders need to become a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.
What happens when the pendulum has nowhere to go? What happens when give and take is no longer permitted to exist? Leadership becomes compromised. When leadership is compromised, your business results will become compromised. A leader practicing these attributes is a leader who feels safer operating a poorer business model. People perform poorly in environments void of pendulum swings. Poor performance leads to poor results. Give a good deal of thought to how, by how much, and by what criteria your business will address pendulum swings. It is no easy matter.
If you are not sure how to manage the pendulums inside the relationships of your business atmosphere, come out swinging! Your business will be glad you did.
Until next time...
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