Back to work ... Why Not?

"Look at me, I'm self-employed ... I love to work at nothing all day." It's partially true. I am self-employed and would absolutely love to work at nothing all day but it's back to work today. When I was at Union Mission I often ended staff meetings by challenging everyone to "Go create something!" And we did. It was an incredibly talented and committed group of people who believed we could make a difference. There was a culture of creativity where the only legitimate question was "Why not?" We had to take such an approach because it seemed the whole world was against us. Politicians said there wasn't money to help. Preachers said, "The poor will be with you always." Hospitals kept shelters full rather than admit patients without insurance. It just seemed as people just accepted homelessness, AIDS and poverty as facts of life. I often heard the words, "You just can't change it. It's always been that way." We dared to believe differently anyway. If we couldn't come up with answers to the question "Why not?" we went ahead and did it. As a result, thousands of people overcame homelessness, people learned to LIVE with AIDS, and a significant dent was made in the most visible segment of the poor (You could actually walk in the city's squares!). My friend Terry Ball is a lifelong employee of the state of Georgia. Some would call him a bureaucrat and he's a brilliant one! He took the approach that if something made sense he did it ... until someone above him on the org chart told him he couldn't. He made an entire state a better place taking such an approach. I wish there were more like him. For the past couple of years, I've contracted myself out helping others take the "Why Not?" approach to business. This enabled me to visit most of the country ... from Alaska to Santa Barbara ... Cleveland to San Juan and a bunch of places in-between. That's the good news! I traveled a lot. The bad news is I paid more taxes than I've ever paid leaving me with holes in my pockets. Therefore I'm re-tooling this whole self-employed business. Why Not? I mean if I'm doing nothing, I should diversify. So I'm heading to town again today for meetings. I view them as a bunch of tiny coming out parties and who doesn't like a party? I had a good time last week so I may as well do it again. Besides ... we've got a better idea and its time to start telling people about it. OK ... gotta go.