Who do you think understands white water rapids better, a nature  photographer or a kayaker?…by the way I’m neither and I’m sure that both bring the practioner amazing experiences, but let’s frame the question within the context of your business.

“You can’t understand running water by catching it in a bucket”…in so many words by Lao Tsu

If you were to compare your business to a white water rapid, you’d find amazing similarities, one of them for ex:  in a rapid even though you are looking at what seems to be the same mass of water all the time, that’s clearly not the case….it’s never the same water. The water passing through a particular reference point will never be there again.

Your business is also part of a social ecosystem and it’s never in the same spot. It’s either improving or it’s not.

But why the contrasting examples of the photographer vs. the kayaker?

Well, so many times in the course of my travels I’ve found myself acting as a nature photographer, taking amazing shots of the white water, from all angles, with different lenses in all kinds of seasons and weather patterns.

Going through the process of developing the shots myself, entrenched hours at a time in the privacy of my own dark room, then further immersing myself in the digital editing and cataloging of these pics, such a relaxing exercise!!!…Then of course showcasing these magnificent specimens to clients, friends, the competition and lastly to my biggest audience and most devoted fan…a leader on his own account I reluctantly named “meego”. He gets first dibs!

Contrary to the Photographer, the Kayaker however is helplessly being bumped, throwned, turned upside down by a force bigger than him/her. He has to act, be creative and accurate in navigating this messy waters. He has not control even though at times he thinks he does. Right now his responsibility is to act in the moment…There will be time later for analysis and recounts and lessons to be learned. Right now it’s time to move! The kayaker keeps coming back for reasons sometimes even he/she does’t understand.

By now you know where I’m going with this…

It’s easy to get involved…or perhaps the right word should be “immersed” in the analytical and statistical part of your trade. We have to be involved, its our business right?…but my point is not to do it at the expense of the creative process, at the expense of not knocking at the door of the mysterious realm of intuition which leads to innovation and the creation of new ideas and methodologies. This leads to only one outcome: [makes your business more profitable and hopefully more productive to society.]

Wayne Gretsky was never at an intellectual plain while wrapping around the net, neither was MJ with 5 seconds on the clock or Tiger, sinking a 35 footer when it counted!   …They weren’t thinking…They were doing it!

It’s easier and cleaner to be the nature photographer., I get it…My point is you should hire one…and be the kayaker! …It’s the only way to truly live your business, because that’s what living is!…Living is doing! We are not defined by our titles…as a friend of mine told me once,

“Call me the janitor if you want….I’m not into titles”

If you’re are not up to the task, find someone who is and hand over the helmet and the kayak with the instructional dvd on how to kayak…Don’t worry, if you picked the right person, they’ll figure it out.

My feeling is you’ll never give up that spot, that’s your spot and you didn’t start your business by thinking like a nature photographer!

[so instead of taking the picture, be in the picture!]

Take care !

…by the way I love nature photography I think those men and women are amazing and they take incredible risks..some of their shots defy belief…I used the analogy only within and in reference to the context of the central idea in my post. Drop me a comment if you are a nature photographer…I’ll buy you a beer…!