The Wisdom of Crowds

I mentioned before that I'm beginning a new business venture with some friends. Though certainly there are drawbacks to going into business with others, there are also some advantages. One of the biggest is the law of averages. On any given day one of us is bound to be panicked just a bit, but the other are able to keep us on an even keel. Without others to watch my back I'd probably have thrown my hands in the air and walked away a long time ago. Starting a business is stressful.

I believe it's important to choose business partners you get along with and can have fun with. More importantly, however, you should be able to communicate. Every partner needs to feel valued and respected. If one partner is afraid to speak up you could be missing some valuable insights and ideas. At the same time, unless everyone can really handle it, it's best to avoid a no-holds-barred, speak-whatever-enters-your-mind type situation as well. Group dynamics are important, but I suspect most groups fail to take the time to really build a cohesive group.

It's easy to assume that because we're all adults we should all be able to get along. But really, "adult" is such a broad category, that's even less useful than saying all white people behave alike or all cats do such-n-such. People do not behave or think the way we think they do. We really only have ourselves to judge by, and chances are there are few people who think just the same way we do. And perhaps if you do find such a person, you should not go into business with them. You'll both fail to see the same pitfalls.

We've probably all heard at one time or another about the four phases of group development: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. There is no guarantee a group will ever get past Forming or Storming, really. With a group of friends they may never even realize that there is any storming going on, let alone really do anything to move beyond it. It's too easy to take one another for granted.

I'm not sure where this is going, other than to emphasize the importance of social self reliance. We really do need to know how to get along with people if we are to succeed in life. It's not the easiest ability to develop, but it can be critical in so many different situations. Unless, of course, you're a hermit, which is not the brand of self reliance we preach here. ;-)

Self reliance a step at a time

Sorry posting has been nonexistent lately. I've been consumed with getting a business started. Or trying to, anyway. The actual business started nearly a year ago with a friend and I starting a modest joint venture. Recently we added another partner and an investor, and things suddenly got busy with fact-finding and data modeling. We're neck-deep in trying to decide if we're ready yet. It's looking rather if-fy.

On the other hand, I'm having a blast--in a yikes-this-is-real-and-we-can't-afford-mistakes sort of way. All of this analysis and modeling is the sort of thing I live for. I get to make intricate spreadsheets! This is scaring me to death, and I'm having the most fun I've had in years!

But chances are I won't be posting much for awhile until we get things decided and commit to a plan of action--even if that plan of action is "Sit tight for a few more months while we raise more capital".

Hiding your compost pile

Glory Lennon continues her series on composting on Self Reliance Exchange with a discussion on how to make your compost pile as attractive as possible--or perhaps no more detracting than necessary.

Ours are quite aesthetic right now, as I've mentioned before. The problem is their lack of effectiveness, which I'm hoping Lennon's later installments will help me with.

Food storage for two in a year

Joan Crain over at Self Reliance Exchange has a post on how to build up food storage by buying about $10 of supplies per week. She gives you a week-by-week breakdown. I may disagree on a few items, but on the whole, that seems like a sensible program. Check it out!

Self reliance, humility, and charity

As I've said before, I don't think some people's idea of self reliance can be achieved. I don't think we will ever get to the point where we don't need anyone else for anything. There are people who do it, to be sure, but I don't think that's really a goal for most of us. I have no intention of becoming a hermit just to be able to say I am completely self reliant.

There is another down side to taking self reliance too far. I believe the common term for this is "pride". Knowing you should be able to do everything by and for yourself does not automatically bestow the ability to do everything yourself. At some point every one of us may and will need help. We will likely need to go ask for that help, no matter how hard that may be for us.

Asking for help can be easier when we have something to offer the other person in return. It's another matter entirely when we have nothing the other person needs and it is unlikely we ever will. At that point we have little option but to rely on that person's kindness. And that can be a very difficult thing to do, especially when you have been working toward, and perhaps even priding yourself on, self reliance. It can be so difficult that some people would rather just do without rather than ask for help, regardless of the consequences.

That is the point where self reliance becomes dangerous. When we sell ourselves so much on an ideal that we refuse to accept reality, we run a great risk.

Humility is the only antidote. We must realize that we cannot do everything ourselves. We can come close to that, but we have our limits. I can't perform brain surgery on myself. I can't rebuild an engine, even assuming I had the parts. I can't control the weather. There will always be some aspect of my life that is beyond my control.

At some point we will need the help of someone else, or we will fail. Humility is what helps us put survival ahead of pride. It's what helps us ask the help of someone who has no obligation to help us. And, incidentally, it is what will move that person to help you.

Just because you may not have anything to offer that person does not mean they are not aware of their own shortcomings. They may very well realize that they will likely need someone else's help some day, even if that person has no need of help in return. A truly humble person recognizes their own faults and weaknesses. They will help someone simply because that person needs the help, not because it will bring them any direct reward, but because they know they may need help someday, too. They will help because they are hoping that is what the person they will need help from will do.

I'm not sure where this post comes from or where it's going--or if I'm even making sense. I suppose it comes from the fact that even though I have a goal of self reliance, I'm still not making the progress I wish I were. I could very well be asking help from people who I can do very little for. It will not be easy. But I will need to do it all the same. Sometimes one needs to be more reliant before you can become self reliant, perhaps.

Roughing it - or not

Last year our kids developed an interest in camping, so we thought we'd try it--in the back yard. They had a blast. We vowed never again. Of course time heals all wounds, or soothes all stiff muscles, and we tried it again last week. My conclusion? We are not ready to rough it. Or rather, we're not prepared to make roughing it less rough.

For one thing, all we really have is a tent. The kids, who are young and flexible, sleep on blankets. We tried using an air mattress this last time, but it leaked, so by morning we were sleeping on the ground and in a banana shape. And, to be honest, sleeping isn't entirely accurate for the waking-up-every-half-an-hour I did all night.

We need decent sleeping bags at the least. We had quilts, and it didn't colder than the 60's, but we were all chilled in the morning. Sleeping bags would likely have provided more padding than our blankets and quilts, too.

We need the means to cook outside. We ate all our meals in the house and only slept outside. We need a cook stove or something at the very least.

We had a couple flashlights, but nothing more than that. And that was rough enough, as our dog loves to chase flashlight beams. The mere presence of flashlights made her crazy and try to jump all over sleeping people. I'm hoping a good lantern would provide much better light without making the dog nuts. That may be too much to hope for.

There are, of course, lots of other little items and amenities that we would need were we to try camping completely independently of our home. Even if we never try camping in the wilderness, even if we had to live in an evacuation camp we'd be in pretty bad shape. The fact that we can't even camp comfortably in our own back yard is probably a good sign we're not quite prepared in that area.

Composting: Pile Placement

More composting information from Glory Lennon on Self Reliance Exchange. This article talks about location of your pile.

We, too, have found that having the pile in shade doesn't matter much, but it does do better in sun. At our old house we were able to have it out of sight, which helped, though ours didn't smell that badly, either. Here I've tried making my own composters, which allow it to be in plain sight. They are not working well, though, and I have to experiment to see if it's the design itself that's the problem or what we put in it. I suspect the latter at least plays a large part.