How was your trip? Uneventful

And it’s hard to write about being happy
‘Cause, the older I get
I find that happiness is an extremely uneventful subject

And there will be no grand choirs to sing
No chorus could come in
About two people sitting doing nothing

“No Choir” ~ Florence and the Machine

For there to be excitement, entertainment, drama is an essential element to any story. So, when nothing dramatic happens, there is no story to tell, as Florence Welch so lyrically expressed in “No Choir”.

Last week I flew to Cayman. When asked by people: “how was your trip”, I answered: “Uneventful”. Whilst there was then no story to tell, sometimes that is a great story, to having no story to tell.

In this case, with this being my first flight in 18 months, and to Cayman, where there are very strict Covid quarantine protocols for arrivals, the fact that the trip was uneventful is a great compliment to all involved, from Heathrow airport to British Airways to the multiple Cayman Islands Government agencies.

Consider the power of “uneventful” in business. I moved to Mac from PC in 2009 on the advice of the computer supplier to our group of businesses. He said that for me, to just switch to Apple as “they just work”. 12 years later I agree, they do. They just work.

Now consider the power of Culture, of leading from Purpose, of living the Values of a business in how you do things, in every decision. Often I am asked by new clients how they can measure the value of investing in Culture.

Perhaps one simple metric is that interactions, activities, decisions that used to create drama (and so friction, conflict, need for management and leadership time and energy) now become, well, uneventful.

I hope you take some time to look at what you might like to change in your business so that it becomes uneventful.

Enjoy your Sunday, I shall be having an uneventful one as I continue to quarantine in Cayman for the next few days.