Getting to the Bottom Line

In this world of fast-paced, fast-food culture we live in how many of you enjoy a fine dining experience. Now, I’m not necessarily referring to those swanky joints where you have to sip your water with your pinky extended. Not at all.

Instead, think of any dining experience where the atmosphere was just so, the wait staff was always there at the right time and place – and had just what you needed. Think of a time when the food was prepared just so, and you ate just enough;  not too much to make you feel stuffed, but you were, well – satisfied. Remember when the company and conversation matched all of that, creating a memory that you fondly rolled through in your mind year after year, making you smile that little knowing smirk?

Do you find time to savor that meal – or simply rush through anticipating the end? I wanted to share something with you that follows this train of thought, from an article I wrote, The Sipping Life:

Remember, look up every so often so you do not lose that sense of wonderment about all things around us; remember that we are part of something larger than ourselves, it demanding a gentler appreciation than our grooming might normally dictate.

… And remember, our glass of wine was intended to be sipped, not gulped.

Submersed in Social:

As I logged into Google Reader tonight to review my many subscriptions, I kept hearing the age-old adage of Web 2.0 wisdom telling me that I had to get to the bottom line, find out what the meat of the story was and get out. Sure time is always against us, but I found myself looking at a few of the posts – particularly one article by Michael Leis on Conversation Agent, asking where the line was between honesty and fiction in our bold, new world of social media – and I had to take pause.

While there is cause to glance through certain things, there are others that require attention to detail, or better yet, for you to roll the taste around in your mouth – let what you are consuming rush over your senses and mind submersing you in its thoughts.

The Bottom Line of Business:

In business, the concept is no different. In sales, the customer always asks for the price. Managers always ask what’s the impact to their bottom line. In meetings around the world, employees are just wondering what the meeting is about – how it relates to them. Even you, if you’ve made it this far, are wondering, “When is this guy going to get to the point?”

Sure we couch each of these bottom lines differently, but don’t we just want to figure out what’s the message AND why is it important to me, anyway? With productivity tools we can get there faster, consume more information, which in turn, helps us make better decisions right?

Maybe – maybe not…

While it is incumbent upon us all to be respectful of others’ time and not belabor points that could be made much more quickly, we have become so preoccupied and so busy with the buzzing of mobile devices and flashing lights of our lives we often sidestep what is in front of us in pursuit of what lies ahead (or at the bottom as it were).

Perhaps our crime is not in our preoccupation with so many of these things, rather it might be fixing our eyes upon our future so intently we forget our lives are being lived in the here and now… Perhaps the bottom line has become our glass ceiling, of a sort.

Image courtesy of: TheDreamSky

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. To connect with Ken, you may visit him at DandyID.