Líneas Invisibles

Están por todos lados. Este barrio contra el otro. Nuestra comunidad contra la de ellos. Mi estado contra tu estado. Este país contra aquel país. Las líneas invisibles crean lealtades. Crean un sentido de pertenencia. Ayudan a estructurar los recursos. Pero con el tiempo, también pueden crear barreras, divisiones y frenar la colaboración.

DOSIS EXTRA

Esta enriquecedora contribución fue escrita por Jorge Sánchez. Este generoso traductor une a líderes angloparlantes e hispanohablantes de todo el mundo.

Los buenos líderes reconocen la importancia de pertenecer, pero también comprenden que el futuro se construye sobre puentes, no con muros. La innovación no se limita a nuestro lugar de residencia, lo que nos invita a celebrar la singularidad de cada ciudad, región, estado y país, mientras abrimos la puerta a la colaboración entre diferentes culturas. Esto se ve desafiado por el contexto histórico compartido entre dos lugares. Cuando las personas de una comunidad tienen opiniones preconcebidas sobre otra, estas suposiciones pueden limitar el interés en la colaboración futura. En lugar de repetir quejas del pasado o lamentarse por lo que le falta a la propia comunidad, reconozcamos lo que sí tenemos. Celebremos la singularidad que aporta una diversidad enriquecedora y avancemos gracias a la colaboración con nuestros vecinos.

Además de la colaboración comunitaria, se requiere un esfuerzo adicional para desarrollar negocios a través de fronteras invisibles. Siempre habrá factores específicos a considerar, pero aquí presentamos algunas actividades clave para construir puentes entre diferentes lugares.

  • Participa y comparte experiencias en ambos entornos.
  • Encuentra un aliado honesto que comprenda las diferencias culturales.
  • Crea una red de contactos en ambos lugares y únelas.
  • Estructura legalmente un negocio para ambos entornos.
  • Mantén al día licencias, permisos, obligaciones fiscales, impuestos aplicables y auditorías.

El lugar de origen aporta valor cultural a cualquier situación, pero esto no tiene por qué convertirse en una limitación. Aprender a desenvolverse en múltiples entornos permite acceder a mejores recursos y ayuda a que las zonas vecinas prosperen sin perder su propia identidad. Respetar las fronteras invisibles es necesario, pero la verdadera oportunidad, los recursos y la armonía esperan a quienes construyen juntos.


ENGLISH VERSION

They exist all around us. This side of town versus that side. Our community versus that other community. My state versus your state. This country versus that country. Invisible lines create loyalties. They create a sense of belonging. They help structure resources. Over time, they can also create silos, divisions, and limit collaboration.

EXTRA SHOT
This contribution was written by Jorge Sanchez. This translator unites English and Spanish-speaking leaders worldwide.

Leaders recognize the importance of belonging, but also understand that the future is built on bridges, not walls. Innovation is not restricted to where we live, which calls us to celebrate the uniqueness of individual cities, regions, states, and countries, while also inviting collaboration between different cultures. This is challenged by the historical context shared between two locations. When people in one community have opinions of another community, assumptions can limit interest in future collaboration. Instead of relaying ongoing complaints stuck in the past or dwelling on what your own community lacks, recognize what you do have. Celebrate the uniqueness that adds healthy diversity and go further thanks to a neighbor who can extend progress.

Along with collaboration at a community level, extra work is required for individuals building a business through invisible lines. There will always be specific environmental factors to consider, but here are key activities to build on any border.

  • Show up and share stories in both environments.
  • Find an honest ally to understand cultural distinctions
  • Build a network in both locations, then unite them
  • Legally structure a business to span both environments
  • Maintain required licenses, permits, financial variations, applicable taxes, and ongoing auditing

Where you’re from adds cultural value to any situation, but this does not need to become a limitation. Learning to inhabit multiple environments enables people to access better resources and helps neighboring areas thrive without losing their own identity. Respecting invisible lines is necessary, but authentic opportunity, resources, and harmony awaits those who build together.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Momentum Mountain

From the moment we decide, a force is required. Strategic action geared to find, and then maintain momentum.

Extra Shot

“Inspiration is perishable – act on it immediately.” -Naval Ravikant

Meaningful momentum is awakened in endless ways. Early momentum might mean showing up at an event for the first time, researching the competitive landscape, testing an early hypothesis, leaning into customer discovery, considering potential co-founders, building product, and eventually activating a launch sequence.

Once a project is launched, the need for momentum gets stronger. It only becomes more important. There are a world of examples, but growing the business, achieving milestones, and celebrating progress are all forms of valuable momentum. Even in later stages of a company, momentum drives activities like succession planning, navigating exit paths, and considering how your human, financial, cultural, intellectual, and network capital can be recycled back into the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Extra Shot

Need help regaining momentum?
Connect at BenMcDougal.com

If momentum is maintained long enough, the result can be a flywheel effect that feeds on itself. Most things you want to grow require attention, but with less friction, momentum delivers bonus time and valuable understandings. Space for new activity emerges and that keeps things interesting.

The tough reality may be that if momentum is melting, it’s difficult to recapture. Once something melts, it’s never quite the same. These dips are moments to consider when and what to quit. If there’s enough energy to keep going, there may be a way to keep building.

Like the opening quote reminds us, inspiration is perishable. The longer stagnancy lingers, the farther you get from momentum. Tactics to maintain kamiwaza, even when momentum is melting, starts with communication. Honest communication adds clarity and is the easiest way to appreciate the realities of slowness. Reducing the weird by exposing the why, also keeps different stakeholders on the same page. By reducing the tension that quietly brews in silence, teams may be able to run at lower speeds, even during lethargic times. If left unattended however, this can devolve into a lack of urgency that brings another set of challenges. At lower speeds, perhaps less movement is needed to regain the sense of shared momentum?

That’s a real thought, but a tad boring. When it’s time to thrive, not just survive, sparks fly as initiative is taken. Tactics for climbing a momentum mountain include:

    • Connecting within startup communities
    • Travel and learning something new
    • Saying “yes” to unlock adventure
    • Saying “no” to create space
    • Revisiting customer discovery
    • Building a new feature
    • Considering a pivot
    • Onboarding new customers
    • Adding to the team
    • Have fun, then stay centered on a climb down
    • Whatever else generates joy in your own life

Momentum is crucial to playing long-term games with long-term counterparts. Find a good pace by exploring the momentum you’ll need at different stages of the quest. This awareness helps you quit chasing momentum and sets us free to forge better art at a sustainable speed. Continue to multiply mass and velocity, which equates to momentum when, where, and how it’s needed to stay wild.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Goosebumps

Nic Roth is an author, illustrator, and full-time artist. He is also Ben’s younger brother, so have fun sharing EP60 with a sibling and laugh out loud as we explore what it takes to be a full-time creative. We also talk about book publishing, becoming a muralist, and attending art school, before hearing Bloop from the Roasted Reflections library.

After the break, we invite leaders to always create, while at the same time, welcoming mistakes to brew lasting progress. BEN BOT then helps us compare invested time, versus spending, passing, and wasting time. After a few quick thoughts on being brothers, Nic wraps up EP60 by recognizing that belief in one’s self is contagious, as well as, how opportunities to collaborate awaits all of us, every step of the way.

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BONUS MATERIALS
https://NicRothStudio.com
http://Goosebumps.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com
Reading Break from Roasted Reflections: Bloop
http://CollectorHardbackEdition.com
http://RoastedReflections.com
http://BENBOT.ai

By Ben McDougal, ago