For many of us, poetry was what we did in school, perhaps varsity and that’s about it. We learned how life expresses itself through the eyes and words of others. Perhaps it nurtured your soul through times of great joy or sadness.
Poems are described as “often highly imaginative or emotional designed to express or convey deep feelings and thoughts” (The World Book Dictionary). Business on the other hand is described as transactional, non-personal, void of feelings, emotions and imagination. It is concerned with profit, full-stop. And yet the people a business employs have vivid imaginations, are emotional beings and have deep thoughts and feelings.
Look how Robert Frost could be describing your journey as a small business owner or entrepreneur:
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth:”
The culture of your business is formed and shaped by the people who work there. Yes, management can try to implement a culture but if it doesn’t match the feelings, thoughts and lived experience of the employees the prescribed company culture might live above the surface but the lived culture is what beats everyday at work. And the culture is expressed through ‘poetry’, perhaps not in the way Shakespeare or Tennison wrote but through words and phrases that convey how employees feel.
We often get so bogged down with activities and tasks that we forget to nurture the souls of the wonderful human beings who work alongside us every day. How can you use poetry as a business tool?
- Words, phrases and actions create culture. If the feelings and thoughts expressed in business are positive, building up and kind, the client automatically benefits from better customer service
Try this: Team building: Ask your staff to pen some poems and identify the culture and subcultures that exist in your company (this can be expanded on for internal marketing or competitions
- Poetry allows for a deeper and meaningful connection to life and circumstances. Creating meaning ensures a sustained love for your business. A sustained love for your business is what keeps it going in the tough times. Poems touch the soul. A soulful business is a caring business.
- Poetry stimulates ideas which is the source of innovation and innovation is the competitive advantage of any business.
Try this: Brainstorming: use a poem to generate ideas for a new product, service, improved efficiency or to improve performance management
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference”
(Robert Frost)
Take the road less travelled and use poetry as a business tool.