Businesses seem to want to move at light speed. At least some do. When I see that happening I think, “their strategy must be to make a fortune quickly so that when the unthought-through idea collapses they can move on to the next thing. When I hear words like “agile” being tossed around I translate “reckless.” Just over a century ago my ancestors were scraping out a living farming, and they got along okay. Our acquisitiveness has outstripped our sense. I read quite a bit about being satisfied with little. Of course, I work in the “business world” where such ideas are anathema. Even universities have decided to jump on the Titanic. What could possibly go wrong? My experience at Nashotah House was decidedly mixed. One thing I always appreciated was the contemplative (i.e. slow) pace of things. I may not be orthodox but I’m hardly reckless.
Perhaps buying the farm isn’t such a bad idea. I’m afraid that I don’t have enough practical knowledge to raise my own food, even though I’m a vegan. You see, for the things you can’t raise in the soil you need to sell surplus so that you can buy things. Or rent movies. And that takes business sense. And businesses want to move at the speed of light. I may be neurodiverse, but it takes me a while to process things. I watch older movies. I read slowly. I think things through. I do believe that businesses that last a long time have survived by moving a bit more slowly. Like a tree. By thinking things through. The Vatican has been in business for a couple thousand years and they seem to be doing okay. I could be Catholic were it not for doctrine.
I’m not the smartest guy around—not by a long shot—but I am a strategic thinker. Strategic thought can be deep. And counterintuitive. And it doesn’t always lead to the desired results. (I don’t even have a small college post, so that much is obvious.) I’m content to let people pass me on the highway. I don’t have to be first to market, as the saying goes. I’m more in it for the long haul. It hasn’t landed me wealth or fame, but I can spend a little time writing every day. I get to watch movies that make me feel good. I even get a book or two out the door. Being agile is fine, but only, imho, if you think it through.
