• Home
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Community
  • Contact

SMARTY.

The human side of business

Small Business

Force.

February 14, 2017 · By Amy Swift Crosby

Even a star, a plan and hard work are not (always) a marriage made.  Image from Getty

It almost never works.

At the root of it is tunnel vision, with no room for other ideas or possibilities. Railroading, bullying, one person’s will over another – that kind of force is easy to spot.

But there’s another kind, a more insidious, subtle version – and I’m guilty of it too.

If you’ve ever tried to impose your (good) will on something or someone who doesn’t want it as much as you do, you’ll recognize this. It usually seems like a “no brainer” or a “win-win.” It might look like one person trying to put an idea or business together, and the other not responding with urgency or next steps. They might say one thing, but do another. Years ago, I tried to put together a partnership with a world-renowned architect and a luxury furniture retailer. He was willing. They were excited. Meeting after meeting seemed more promising than the next. But the middle partner (not pictured), the person who was critical to the deal itself coming together to ultimately oversee the marriage, made it so hard, so complex and so unappealing to everyone – that we all walked away. But I hung on, even when everyone had left the room, as it were. I made persuasive marketing decks and delivered the starchitect to their showroom, because my vision was crystal clear. But no amount of vision, if you aren’t listening (and adjusting) to what’s really going on, is going to make something happen. My blind attachment to the idea was essentially forcing a key through a hole that did not fit. I didn’t have the wisdom to balance perseverance with practical facts.

We can push so hard and work so hard and try so hard that even when we aren’t literally forcing ‘people’ to do something we want, we force ideas where they aren’t meant to bloom.

I see force happening all around us right now, most clearly at the highest levels of office. Let’s remember that it’s easy to see the rigid, unyielding, aggressive behavior of uneducated heads of state, but much harder to see it in our own good intentions.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Share

Share
Tweet
Email
Pin
Comment
Previous
Next

Topics

  • Small Business
  • Big Life
  • Small Towns
  • Big Brands
  • Popular Posts
  • Uncategorized

About Me

photo of Amy Swift Crosby

Amy Swift Crosby is a brand strategist and copywriter who has positioned or voiced messaging across the commercial spectrum, from icons like Ford, BVLGARI, Pottery Barn, Pantene and Virgin, to boutique brands like The Wild Unknown, fitness franchise Barre3 and the rebrand of legendary metaphysical bookstore, Bodhi Tree. She has leveraged this expertise to help entrepreneurial women and small businesses owners hone their skills, mission and message, while uncovering their own “voice.” This blog explores “the human side of business,” and universal themes like uncertainty, anxiety, the tension between engagement and disconnection, personal value and most importantly, of finding - and hearing - our own voices in our everyday life.

Photo - Andrew Stiles

Subscribe

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Archives

  • ►2020
    • ►April
      • Company.
    • ►March
      • Connected.
      • This.
      • Uncertainty.
    • ►February
      • Devotion.
    • ►January
      • TBH.
  • ►2019
    • ►October
      • Cadence.
    • ►July
      • Traps.
    • ►May
      • Plot.
    • ►March
      • Answers.
    • ►February
      • Regret.
    • ►January
      • New Year, New...?
  • ►2018
    • ►December
      • Magic.
    • ►October
      • Fearless.
    • ►September
      • Replication.
      • September.
    • ►June
      • Restoration.
      • Tenancy.
    • ►May
      • Narrow.
      • WOTO.
    • ►April
      • Rattled.
      • Lego.
    • ►March
      • CNN.
      • Just.
      • Unfollow.
    • ►February
      • Zerrissenheit.
      • Malls.
      • Eggshells.
      • Hold.
    • ►January
      • Demonstrate.
      • Brrr.
      • Stella.
      • Hello 2018.
  • ►2017
    • ►December
      • Resentment.
      • Dismissed.
      • Waiting.
    • ►November
      • Artificial Deadlines.
      • Regular.
      • Equal.
      • Knowing.
    • ►October
      • Frequent Finish Lines.
      • Copycats Part Deux.
      • Copycats.
      • Contact High.
      • Intentional Tension.
    • ►September
      • Fanship.
      • Clive.
      • Pause.
    • ►July
      • Millennialmania.
      • Colette.
      • Downsellers.
      • Hood Ornaments.
    • ►June
      • Singular.
      • Half Me.
      • Metaphor.
      • Reins.
    • ►May
      • Itches.
      • Blinders.
      • Free.
      • Chemistry.
      • Content.
    • ►April
      • Left Out.
      • Deference.
      • Triggers.
      • The Ask.
    • ►March
      • Room.
      • Generous.
      • Empathy.
      • Descriptions.
    • ►February
      • Teflon.
      • Code.
      • Force.
      • Moves.
    • ►January
      • Rope.
      • Recovery.
      • Out.
      • Belonging.
      • Small.
  • ►2016
    • ►December
      • Resolutions.
      • Work.
      • Idle.
      • Details.
    • ►November
      • Presentation.
      • Editors.
      • Crazy.
      • Tomorrow.
      • ROR.
    • ►October
      • Joy.
      • Words.
      • Machinery.
      • Face Time.
    • ►September
      • Marriott.
      • Bush.
      • Round and Round
      • Maiden Voyages
    • ►August
      • Destination: Procrastination.
      • Age
      • Inspired Conversations
      • The Ten Minutes.
      • Format
    • ►July
      • Attachments.
      • Who gets your best you.
      • Divided.
      • Performance.
    • ►June
      • For the Originators
      • Chief.
      • The Problem with Passion
      • Platforms.
    • ►May
      • Ordinary.
      • Kenny.
      • Over Everything.
      • See Me
      • Conditions
    • ►April
      • Solving Obvious.
      • Wisdom.
      • Happy Faces.
      • Mr.Sullivan
    • ►March
      • Spirit Animals.
      • The Ensemble Life.
      • Tinkering.
      • Badassery.
    • ►February
      • Adaptation.
      • We Hate It When Our Friends become Successful.
      • Alone in the Field.
      • Portraits.
    • ►January
      • The Process Is The Answer.
      • I Can't Believe Anyone Thinks This Still Works.
      • Rebel Rebel.
      • Commitments. The Fourth Kind.
  • ►2015
    • ►December
      • Unscripted
      • Novelty
      • No Pants.
    • ►November
      • Solve If With What.
      • Dualité.
      • Last Days
      • Whatchyou Sayin?
    • ►October
      • Wanna Get Busy (With Me)?
      • Professionals
    • ►September
      • Fluency
    • ►August
      • The Curse of Customization.
      • Is it that hard to…?
      • Misery.
    • ►July
      • Brave.
      • Blind Spots.
      • Bailing or Believing.
      • The Tension.
    • ►June
      • Nobody Likes The Squirrel.
      • I Just Don't Have Time For Friends.
      • Got A Handle?
    • ►May
      • Earned Wisdom
      • The Whole 'Have It All' Thing. 
      • The Dip vs. The Dive
      • The Power of Disengagement
    • ►March
      • It's good to be loved...
    • ►February
      • Apple – User (and Worker) Friendly
    • ►January
      • The Bird Theory

Search

Instagram

Instagram did not return a 200.

About

SMARTY began as a thriving community in Los Angeles and Boston with weekly panel discussions and events designed to better understand the mindset and growth strategies behind successful entrepreneurs. Today, SMARTY is a weekly blog written by Amy Swift Crosby who chronicles her life as a creative, parent, entrepreneur and spiritual seeker. As an urban refugee living in a New England seaside village, she unpacks topics ranging from uncertainty and doubt to the built environment and advertising. More on Amy.

Never Miss a Post

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Latest Posts

  • Company.
  • Connected.
  • This.
  • Uncertainty.
  • Devotion.

Copyright 2021 SMARTY.