Difference between revisions of "Sustainable Business - Learning Community Conversations"

Revision as of 18:08, 5 June 2012

Two primary questions ...

1) What do we really mean by sustainable business?

2) What kind of role will sustainable businesses have in creating a sustainable future for Detroit?

Additionally... What can we learn from each other? How do we support each other in growing our respective businesses to be more sustainable?

May 31, 2012 Topic: External Communication

How do we find a balance between external and internal communication? How do we share information about our business, successes, failures externally? With modern communications, how much of it is really helpful?

Internal: private and limited External: public/and/or more unlimited - open and available

The "What's clear to me.." point: In any project, always a point where you reach a "what's clear to me is clear to me" moment. The language and context of the project is clear to those working on it, but to the person on the outside, what you are doing and the language you use to describe it may not be clear at all. How do you bridge that gap? It requires additional energy to explain your work to outsiders. These moments will happen naturally, and the boundary between those on the inside and those on the outside will change over time, but the gap will always have to be bridged.

Many of us are working on unusual types of businesses and it can be hard to explain them to outsiders. So how do you get external communication happening in such a way that the gap isn't so large and more people will want to become involved with your business, so you won't have to work so hard to bring people in? Tell the "story" of your business - create visual images through the context of your story to make it easier for others to "Picture" what it is that you do. When your external communication isn't effective, you can spend a lot of time trying to explain to others what it is that you do.

What is the new way to organize a business? Lots of people are working on this very question today.

Jeff and the Mt. Elliot Maker Space:

• Jeff's "open hack night" is a way of communicating what he does at the maker space; example of "porous fringes." Is there a way to do that more effectively? Train another tour operator, for example? Video? Fliers? Volunteers?

• How does he get the general public engaged enough to even come for "open hack night" or to watch a video? How do you rip a kid off Facebook and get them interested in something else?

• What has worked best for Jeff in the past? Can he replicate it? How did that happen organically? Word of mouth - Jeff talks a lot :) People that have come spread the word. Maybe he should use the assets that he has (people who are at Mt Elliot Maker) and have them communicate for him - it all goes back to story telling. Does Jeff need to develop his own elevator pitch? Different pitches for different audiences (adults vs kids, etc)? Certainly there's online stuff or media stuff but these might not work.

• Jeff's not always sure whether he can really do something or not, that is, there is a fine line between chilling and letting things happen naturally and "stoking the fire" a bit and making things happen. Sometimes you just have to go for it and sometimes it's just not appropriate. Have your interaction with the public reflect the reality of your business (Hannah)

• Many people can do the same thing but for different reasons. You really only need to share what you do, not why you do it (unless they specifically ask) because you want to invite people to do the same work, even if they have reasons that are different from yours. So why does Jeff do what he does? To create future geniuses; to bridge the gap between the capability of local kids and opportunity for learning, improve the quality of their lives. But he could simply begin with, "We're helping kids succeed." The sign on the door has to reflect what's inside: "it has to be accurate, but not complete"

External communication is "here" not "there" - and it's always happening. People who are at the Green Garage everyday spread the message - in their own, unique ways.

There needs to be balance and harmony in what you're trying to communicate about your business externally and the reality of the internal. For example, it was suggested that the Green Garage develop a mobile site, but we're just not mature enough to deal yet with what people might want from us. Another example: Mitzi has taken to twittering for the GG and it's worked very well because there is a natural energy for it. If there isn't a natural energy for communicating then forcing it doesn't work.

Monica: she has a yoga studio - very clear picture of what that is. Jeff's maker space is a bit more difficult to understand for many people.

Next week's topic: Validation of people's work. How do we celebrate successes?

Future topic: Prioritizing one's time.