Growing Lately

I grew at a conference recently. As much as one can reasonably grow in a weekend. Not in largess or stature or net worth, but certainly in terms of understanding. In every economics or business course probably on the planet, students learn that to grow is to succeed. To get your product to shelves across the country, or around the world, to license your name, to franchise, to open up stores or offices or restaurants is supposed to be every businessperson’s dream. Whatever it is, the wider your name is known and your product is sold, the better.
This conference was filled with successful entrepreneurs who had purposely stayed true to high ideals and to being local. Judy Wicks, of Black Dog Café spoke about the moment that so many local businesses experience when they are ripe to grow. Judy clearly got to that position, when her business was solid enough to grow and people were even asking her to open up Black Dog Cafés around her state. It should have been a proud moment that launched her and her business into fame and fortune, but it didn’t sit right with her. She paused. She began to ask herself what other kinds of growth were possible. Could she grow deeper? Could she grow in consciousness? Could she grow wiser? Could what she offered her customers or her community grow? Could she grow her quality of life? It was really a question of her definition of success and life goals. She decided she would grow in instead of out—or perhaps, deep instead of wide.
When I was little, my mother used to always tell me that “in drought, roots grow deep.” Knowing that, I wonder what would be different now if businesses and corporations had preemptively developed some deep roots. What would our communities look like if so many of us hadn’t been distracted by the phantom wealth and access to debt for the last decade? We were frantically trying to cultivate fruits and foliage, instead of roots…but it’s not too late.
In fact, these are some of the key questions of our time. It’s important for us to ask ourselves, our communities & businesses, and of course, FightWithTools.org and each of our street teams. How do we want to grow? Do we need to recruit more & more folks, or do should we deepen our existing relationships? Is there a way to do both? How can we weave our roots with those around us? It’s part of our WATS model-We reflect as we Wake up, Activate, Transform, and in the myriad of ways we Step Up. All of these offer us an opportunity to grow deeper. Having deep roots may not be as showy or even immediately satisfying, but when things get dry, windy, or tough, we’ll still be standing…and in good years, we’ll be a thing of beauty…