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Business Only Contains 3 Things: People, Process, & Situations

by Rick Baker
On Sep 27, 2011
OK…you might think that’s true…or you may think it isn’t.
 
AND – you might think - even if it is true…what difference does that make?
 
Here’s the point:
 
Many people are struggling with their work.
 
I suppose people have said that for generations. But, now, struggling at work seems to be a worse problem than it used to be.
 
If you do not agree then please do not read on.
 
***
 
If you are still reading then you are interested in people struggling at work. Maybe you are a life-long student of self-development and you want to expand your knowledge so you can continue to excel at work…sharpening your saw…keeping your leadership tools up to date and in good working condition]
 
Maybe you are trying to figure out why your work seems to be less successful than it used to be…and you want some solutions.
 
Maybe you want to learn so you can help other people struggle less as they go about their work.
 
***
 
Back to Business contains only 3 things: People, Process, & Situations.
 
Q: Is that true?
 
A: Nobody has proven otherwise…until someone can prove there are more than 3 things we will not change our minds. There is no need to over-complicate things. In fact, the opposite is true: there is a need to simplify things. So, we challenge any over-complication of the content of business. Business contains only 3 things.
 
Q: OK, only business contains only 3 things – what difference does that make?
 
A: Since you are still reading, you know people are struggling in business. And, probably, you want to do something to relieve that struggling. One way to begin to relieve business struggling is to clarify and simplify things to the extent that is possible and practical. Do your part to clear the fog of business. Defining the components of business in a simple/straightforward way is the best way to start.
 
So – Business Contains Only 3 Things: People, Process, & Situations.
 
You can start with these 3 basic elements of business. You can focus on each one. You can focus on how each of the 3 interrelates with the other 2. Then you can increase your ability to understand the sources of the struggling at work that naturally happens when all 3 basic elements are  mixed together in your business workplace.
 
The more you know about the basic elements of business and how they interrelate the more you will understand the keys to reducing work struggles.
 
Footnote:
 
We have approached the topic – What is Business All About? – from several perspectives: psychological, social, and business-bottom-line to name a few.
 
We have read the education provided by numerous authors. For example, here are some thoughts and excerpts provided by Alvin Toffler in his book, ‘Future Shock’.
 
Related to what we call the basic elements of business, Toffler described 5 relationship experiences people have, ‘outside of themselves’. Toffler taught, people have only 5 relationship experiences, they are:
  1. Relationships with people
  2. Relationships with things
  3. Relationships with places
  4. Relationships with institutions and organizations
  5. Relationships with ideas and information
Quote: "These five relationships -plus time- form the fabric of social experience. This is why, as suggested earlier, things, places, people, organizations and ideas are the basic components of all situations."
 
This quote provides seeds you can use to help you develop a different perspective of people and the huge impact situations have on people. These are the 2 most-important elements of business and knowledge of and skills around these 2 elements are the foundation for great leadership.

Tags:

Business Contains Only 3 Things | Entrepreneur Thinking | Leaders' Thoughts

Comments (13) -

rick baker
11/12/2011 11:24:37 PM #

People can always find reasons why Situations are not perfect. Some of our minds, or is it our egos, can find huge flaws in every Situation.

Certainly, most egos can get that done quickly enough.

Rick
2/5/2012 2:08:50 PM #

"If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing."

W. Edwards Deming

rick baker
3/26/2012 9:25:09 PM #

“No matter how independent, strong-willed, and determined our nature, we are constantly being modified by our surroundings.”

Orison Swett Marden
'Pushing to the Front', (1911)

rick baker
3/28/2012 7:12:31 PM #

"Your difficulty is not contained, primarily, in the situation which gave rise to it, but in the mental state with which you regard that situation and which you bring to bear on it."

"What is the real nature of difficulty? Is it not a situation which is not fully grasped and understood in all its bearing?"

James Allen
'Byways of Blessedness', (1904)

rick baker
4/23/2012 9:40:28 PM #

"All winners know that there are two kinds of goals - long-term outcome goals and short-term process goals - and that to achieve our long-term goals we need to focus on the process."

Dr. Doug Hirschhorn
'8 Ways to Great', (2010)

rick baker
5/13/2012 10:12:13 PM #

"Perhaps because we so often feel ourselves to be prisoners of structures we had no hand in creating - structures that, however inspired in their origin, have hardened into lifeless, grinding machines - many of us resist structure altogether. In this, we miss the possibility of realizing our own fullest creative potential."

Laurence G. Boldt
'ZEN and the art of making a living', (2009)

rick baker
6/7/2012 11:05:52 PM #

"The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them."

George Bernard Shaw

rick baker
6/7/2012 11:16:16 PM #

"If you see in any given situation only what everybody else can see, you can be said to be so much a representative of your culture that you are a victim of it."

SI Hayakawa

rick baker
6/7/2012 11:51:13 PM #

"Madness is something rare in individuals - but in groups, parties, peoples, ages it is the rule."

Friedrich Nietzsche
‘Beyond Good and Evil’, (1886)

rick baker
10/7/2012 6:36:12 PM #

"You can mentally prepare for every demanding event by strategically imagining the place where you will perform, the people you will be with, the physical and mental energy you require, the objectives you want to achieve, and the activity needed to accomplish your objectives. You see yourself in your mind's eye, consciously guiding yourself toward a future action with a specific end."

Dr. Joe MacInnis
'Deep Leadership', (2012)

rick baker
12/29/2012 5:31:15 PM #

"Strategy is not as detailed as a plan. It is more a set of guidelines. Later these will need to be put into a plan. The point is that the guidelines remain but the plans may vary with the situation. The way you implement a strategy may vary while the strategy remains constant."

Edward de Bono
'Teach Yourself To Think', 1995

rick baker
2/28/2014 11:16:18 PM #

"When the researchers compared whether process or analysis was more important in producing good decisions - those that increased revenues, profits, and market share - they found that "process mattered more than analysis - by a factor of six.""

Chip Heath & Dan Heath
'Decisive', (2013)

rick baker
9/24/2015 1:41:31 PM #

“You can't always control circumstances. However, you can always control your attitude, approach, and response. Your options are to complain or to look ahead and figure out how to make the situation better.”

Tony Dungy - NFL Player, then Coach
'Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices & Priorities of a Winning Life'

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