The river is the goal

In recent weeks I’ve been doing a lot of “visioning” with senior management teams from diverse organisations – in food and beverage, white goods, energy, orchestras and international education. It’s always very interesting and engrossing work.

I think that having a sense of direction is useful, so long as it doesn’t become a straitjacket, getting in the way of responding to change in the competitive environment and within the team.

But much more important than the destination is the journey.

As the conductor, Vladimir Jurowski (currently in the middle of a Prokofiev fest in London), has said in an interview: “The way is its own destination.” And, paraphrasing Hermann Hesse’s novel, Siddhartha, “The river is the goal.”

Work hard and be nice to people

After a meeting in Fitzrovia, I dropped in to see my friend, Rebecca Hossack, at her Art Gallery in Charlotte Street.

She was in a meeting, said a cheery hello, and encouraged me to go to see the Alasdair Wallace exhibition at her other gallery in Conway Street, right by the Post Office Tower.

Rebecca came to an innovation masterclass I ran a while back – and was full of excitement then about her new venue. It certainly is the perfect gallery space, with good proportions and excellent natural light. And with a really positive climate. Ideal for Mr Wallace’s fine paintings.

Being an inquisitive soul, I took a look in the back office. Above the heads of two gallery staffers was this sign, in Rebecca’s handwriting, in large blue neon: WORK HARD AND BE NICE TO PEOPLE.

Well, it’s not a vision or mission statement. And it’s not really a statement of values or beliefs. So what is it?

In a way, it’s a mantra. A way of life. And it so reflects Rebecca and her galleries.

The line existed previously in Anthony Burrell’s wonderful woodblock poster (above). Was it he who originally coined the phrase?

I think it can be at the heart of all organisations that have customers and suppliers and colleagues. So that would be all organisations.

Easy to say. Harder to do. Please don’t adopt it unless you can live by it…