Hitting The Globe Or How I Hang Out With The Rest Of The World

The idea of actually talking and conversing with people on the other side of the world still hasn't quite sunk in to the grey matter just yet.

I mean think about - can you really do business with someone sitting at their computer in the middle of the night in their PJ's? (and yes, there are some of us seeing dark right now, something I sometimes can't get my head round) Especially when they can't see you or hear your voice; know what food you like; how many cups of coffee you drink each day, what music you like, what you wear etc (well, most people don't even know that about their own spouses so we'll leave that subject for another day...)

Years ago, when you went for a job with someone, it usually started off with an interview, then if you liked the look of each other and you fitted in, you got the job. Nowadays, you go to an interview already struggling under the weight of all the documents you must present to simply prove that you are who you say you are. A quick check on your date of birth simply doesn't wash with prospective employers anymore - you have to come armed with every conceivable document ever written about you including all your exam results from school, and trust me, if that is as far back for you as it is for me, then in my opinion, they should give you the job on the spot for just still having the paperwork you left school with....

It would seem that we now live in a world of two business extremes: on one hand, we don't trust anyone; we simply can't trust or hire an employee out of the blue without the 1001 documents to prove he or she exists. Secondly, still in the world of business, we will quite happily work with each other on projects, ideas and solutions even if it means that your co-pilot is several thousand miles away and all your going on is what they decided would look right on their webpage profile.

So why has it got this crazy? My guess is, is that in business, there are two kinds of people:

1. The desk top, tied down employer: This chap doesn't trust or sometimes even like the people who come in for the interview and there is a perfectly good reason behind this theory - he wasn't the one who decided who was fit for an interview and who wasn't. He is the one who has been told to sit there and spill out the same questions each hour to different candidates. As far as he is concerned, everyone is a criminal and is guilty til proved employable. Coveted by red tape from his senior management team, he is a hamster on the wheel of employment himself, never daring to get off, always there, dependable and reliable and possibly sees everyone who walks in for an interview as a threat. We feel sorry for him. He works hard and never gets the break.
2. The world wide web businessman: With regards to this chap, his desk is the world. He sits himself comfortably at his computer each day and welcomes several billion people into his office. He chats to an old friend in China and strikes a deal with a contract partner in France. He will jump on a plane like you and I would jump on a bus, to go to a meeting. He will teleconference more often that BT. He commands a high salary and the world loves him, yet to his next door neighbours, he is the man who lets the front lawn grass grow til there are pygmies dancing around in it, chanting, and as far as the woman across the road is concerned, he is that guy who lost his job several years ago and doesn't come out of the house anymore, so why does he do business with the world? Because someone in another country has taken the trouble to work and connect with him when they didn't have to.

It's all about the way we look at things. To my family, I am the one who can be heard thundering away on the keyboard all day and sometimes all night, occasionally stirring for a cup of tea, but slinking away for further hours of something, yet I am conducting business. I guess they think I am probably playing solitare.

Since persuading myself that the world is now my community rather than pitching my work to a 30 mile radius as Stefan Topfer, CEO and Chairman of WinWeb http://www.sme-blog.com/ said to me, from my own front door, I now talk to people in Canada, the US and other countries I have only heard existed from watching years of the Eurovision Song Contest.

It's still odd to me and to be honest, I have yet to strike that deal with someone in a far flung country but I am hoping it won't be long. In my business, I work with communities and as many of you will know from the business website, http://onemum.webs.com/, my work is based on helping sections of our community who need extra services and information from their local authorities to maintain independent lives. See, it's VERY local, my business, but who's to say that, that community I so heavily focus on, can't be the world wide community, rather than a few streets away from where I actually live?

It's true. Once you find yourself in a global frame of mind, suddenly the world is not so big as you first thought. It shrinks in fact in the palm of your hand and once you have that in your mind, you can become that businessman and let the grass grow...

So long as you don't let it grow under your feet.....

onemum 2009