Giving up the good

Sarah Loecker Art- botanical work in progress

Sometimes in life, you have to make the decision to give up the good for the better. Today was such a case for me. Either John D. Rockefeller, American Tycoon, or Kenny Rogers, country music singer (google isn't sure which :) ) is quoted as saying, 'Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great'. Whether this is a great business saying or a country music slogan, I think there is a lot of truth in it. the good is good but sometimes it continues at the cost of the great. I could come up with endless examples and applications but I would digress and bore you.

  The World has gone online, and in so doing has both shrunk and become more social. Online business and social media has become such a popular thing, so accessible, and informal that it is sometimes hard to realize that it is also a business and as such operates under the ethical codes of business conduct. Which raises the question, what are my business ethics? What is my code? At what point do I implement it. This question came up in a recent situation this week for me, seemingly out of the blue a project which I have been excited about, and highly invested in came to a point where I realized that I needed to evaluate whether it aligned with my sense of ethical business conduct; fair treatment of workers, equity, and kindness. These are some of my core values and they are values which I want, ney need to be present in any business I am at least to a reasonable amount invested in, ie. I always want to treat my collaborators, guests, customers, employees, and colleagues with fairness. I want to be known as a tough businesswoman but a fair one, a person who is both fair and generous. I want to err on the side of generosity over profit and human integrity over deadlines.

    As I describe these ethical business stances you may be led to believe that I was involved in a shady venture, that isn't the case. It was a positive one, fun, exciting, and I enjoyed the people I would be partnering with, yet it didn't quite match my own values. It was the good- a truly interesting opportunity but not the great, not a business based on those fundamental values I need in my own business, and that is why I have decided to give up the good. Knowing that it is for the better.

  I think this realization was an important step for me, a step in realizing that those things which I hold to be self-evident are not. I belong to a business group on FB, startups, online business owners, consultants, etc... who live by the code I have outlined above, it is a source of discussion in our group and several of them were very helpful to me in reaching the decision that I have. As with so many special interest groups, it is interesting to see that the tendencies of the group are not universal but rather 'cultural' to that group, a humbling and thought-provoking reminder.

So what next, where do I go from here. Well, this venture has ended for me, somewhat sadly, but so many windows are still open. I am up to the waist in so many projects at the moment that I do not feel any sense of loss but rather a sense of reminder that each of these projects needs to be approached with the level of ethical and business awareness that has been present in my mind these last few days. I do and will do business with many people throughout my life both as an artist and as a human being, How will they remember my interactions with them. I hope they think of me as fair, and generous. But then shouldn't that be our aim anyway whether in business or in private life?



  So what have I been doing in the studio while muddling through this ethical conundrum? I have been doing logistic work, taking photos, answering e-mails, adding subtext to images. All of the mundane, noncreative aspects of Studio life. This allowed me to actually get some of the less exciting work done while I decided whether to stay or go.

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