|
Growing up, I remember that Monday was wash day. On the line for the day in spring through the fall were articles of clothing, bed linen, bath towels, tennis shoes, cleaning cloths and more. All items were affixed to the clothes line with wooden clothes pins. Many households in my small community of Elizabeth, Pennsylvania displayed their laundry on Monday. I can remember my grandmother expressing dismay on the "washings" of some neighbors whose clothes looked dingy or dull while drying on the line. Of course, she always used the look of our wash as the baseline and it always set the standard...white clothes were very white and colored clothes were very bright.
Another feature of my clothesline recall is the time spent in the organization of the items on the line. For example, all the bed linens and towels would have their space, while other items would occupy another. There was also the thinking of placing heavier clothes in the area that would receive the most sun during the day and they were with good results. There is more, but The Bottom Line is that some of my first lessons learned about the need for planning, organization, branding and diversity derive from my clothesline experience. Little did I know at that time that these concepts would have such significant impact on my life--personal, professional and work !!
Concerning planning, there is not a project undertaken and successfully completed where planning has not been a key tenet. We all know the consequences of failing to use this tool to help us to travel from A to Z. It's basic and the few questions that we raise such as where we are, where we want to go and how to get there are invaluable in obtaining responses to shape the deliverable, which must also have a certain order, organization and rhythm about it.
As for branding, we all want to distinguish ourselves and while there are many approaches to accomplish this, we first need to define what it is, execute it and sustain it according to Jason Cortel in a 2014 article. My brand for my M2Arm artwork consists of shapes and brilliant colors to engage, empower and educate known and unknown followers.
The diversity aspects of my clothesline accounting are reflected in my efforts to include others in all that I do don't mirror an image of me - my thinking, appearance, likes, dislikes, background, experiences, strengths, relationships, education and more.
I know that many of you have stories similar to the Clothesline Tale that could be instructive in transacting the business of your daily agenda. I suggest that you go there and also connect with Marilyn at 804.782.1938 or consulting@mhwest.com to sharpen skills needed in continuing on your pathway of success.
|
