Chicago Blues

Do you harness energy? Or do you burn energy on planning, processes and programs?

I’m in Chicago; city of the Blues. Even in early June it’s chilly and windy like the economy.

Yet we recognise the wind increasingly as a source of energy. Indeed if you’ve got no wind, you’ve got no wind to blow away your blues - or negative energy.

A recent Survey of 100 top entrepreneurs concluded that nearly half thought the changes in the economy would be good for their business. And Michael O’Leary of Ryanair ‘welcomes’ the high price of oil saying it will blow away the weaker airlines.

LBS’s Professor Lynda Gratton’s recent book highlights the importance to organisations of Energy Hot Spots as she calls them.

Because as the slogan on my coffee cup reminds me “if nothing ever changes, nothing ever changes”.

Without momentum or energy we can achieve nothing .

A mill pond may be beautiful. But try facilitating a group with no heat, light or wind in their sails.

Energy coming from the wrong direction is much better than none at all. You can still sail into the wind by tacking. But you can’t sail anywhere without wind in your sails.

Maybe that’s why so many people in business burn out in their ‘midlife’. While others discover new sources of sustainable energy.

Tags: butter, chicago, chicago blues, David, energy, Energy hot spots, hot spots, Lynda gratton, sustainable energy