Effortless Achievement
Do you want to achieve more? I do. The question is, how? With lots of struggle, or effortlessly? Let’s explore the possibility of effortless achievement in business by first looking at where it is absent and then revisiting the Summer Riptide.
A Powerless Paradigm
I was recently struck by a news story regarding a small group of recent college graduates. They had agreed to work more than double the normal work week doing fairly menial work on powerpoints and spreadsheets. In return, they would get very good pay, a brand name on their resume, and entry into a formidable business network. This kind of opportunity is coveted and has been so for at least thirty years. Recent graduates who do these types of programs are nearly guaranteed business success in life: top business school admittance, membership in a vast and deep global business network, and enviable social prestige. What could go wrong?
Just as it is ill-advised to surf on a moonless night, the wave that these youngsters are riding demands even more than the 80 hours per week advertised. Demands on time were actually 100 hours or more a week. That’s 25% more! Certainly the impact on physical, emotional, and mental health and well-being was far greater than that marginal 25% benefit; a dangerous paradigm. Unfortunately, this is still a paradigm of work today for the best of the best. This paradigm is clearly full of stress and angst while absent freedom, joy, and abundance - the very things we endeavor for in life.
Naturally, what has followed is reactionary changes to how business is done at these firms. The issue though is that the paradigm - which lacks power, freedom, joy, and fulfillment - persists. The employees are a secondary consideration relative to profitability. How do we know that? Because it took national media attention and scrutiny to cause a change. So, what is the alternative?
The Summer Riptide Revisited
Agile Rainmakers has a summer intern program called The Summer Riptide. Happily, three exceptional students, and perhaps a fourth, have agreed to intern for nine weeks this summer. We are going to have a lot of fun producing tremendous results for our clients (by the way, if you have a summer project that you’d like to discuss, please reach out). A key part of the program has been and remains that the students cannot work before 9 am or after 5 pm during weekdays, and no work is allowed on weekends. Now who is accountable for having this approach be successful?
This is a design question for Agile Rainmakers’ Leadership. It takes something to get real value-add project work complete within a set period of time. It takes intentionality, creativity, and persistence. It takes breakthrough thinking from a new paradigm of effortless achievement. Living true to that ethos is what makes a summer at Agile Rainmakers so rewarding and fulfilling for both the students and leadership. How did we come to this conclusion? We thought back to when we were interns, and from that perspective, we designed a program that put in what was missing and took out what was in the way of an extraordinary experience.
Effortless Achievement Is Possible
When you operate from an empowering context and think from other people’s perspectives, you design ways of doing business that have power, freedom, joy, and abundance for all involved. It may seem oxymoronic to have the words “effortless” and “achievement” next to each other. But if you think about riding a surfboard, you do achieve quite a distance just standing still. Likewise, a sailboat traverses great distances with velocity because it is designed with its environment in mind. All it takes is some foresight and diligence.
What contextual change, paradigm shift, or design initiative could you put in place for your business that would work with your environment? This could lead to effortless achievement. That is what I wish for you today.
Here's to you and your awesome future.
Until then, keep your feet on the board and keep riding your wave!
Robert J. Khoury
CEO Agile Rainmakers