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“Did you cut your hands on me?

Are my edges sharp? “ 

Sufjan Stevens

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I admit.

I like sharp edges.

I like people with sharp edges.

I like a business positioned with some sharp edges.

sharp being pencilHeck. I even like writing with pencils that have a sharp point.

Now. Being around sharp edges translates into several things that you kind of have to figure out how to deal with.

First & foremost you gotta be comfortable with cuts. You can’t be bitching and moaning about “its not easy” or “this can be painful” or “I want something softer.”

I know. I know. Not everyone is comfortable with sharp edges.

It most likely took me far too long to figure that out. Why? To me edges made sense. Oh. To be clear. This is having an edge or a distinction and clarity … not being edgy.

Anyway. This edge thing, having and making some unequivocal non blurry attitudes and beliefs and, well, character like aspects, has always appeared <at least to me> to make it easier to communicate and interact. And this pertains with how we would communicate and interact personally as well as within business.

But … that’s me.

live on edge of reality lifeUnfortunately. What I seemed to overlook was that edges are, uhm, sharp. They not only can hurt, but they can also kill. Sharp edges mean choices — choices by you and choices by others who could possibly be cut.

And maybe it is because of that last point in business we far too often think of sharp in butter knife terms.

Butter knife sharpness is most typically not the original intent in any business discussion but due to collaboration and a general desire for minimal risk <yet desiring maximum return> the edges become more rounded and blunt. The business idea gets wielded as a safe utensil used to softly spread some additive on the larger offering. You can poke people with the butter knife but rarely hurt anyone in doing so.

When discussing this with businesses I most often suggest they come up with things they can stab their competition with. And use the ‘stab’ as a test for whatever they are discussing.

I am chuckling here.

Even with what I just wrote a business can be pretty creative when discussing ‘a sharp edge’ for something they have discussed & want to do. They wrangle their business in brainstorming sessions and focus groups and leadership collaboration meetings and inevitably come to a consensus that is in their eyes … some sharp edged way to position the business in the marketplace and communicate it.

But. After all that wrangling all they have done is find some soft edged palatable to the majority ‘thing.’ It doesn’t hurt anyone with some sharp edge <except the truly ‘scared of any risk at all’ people> and it can only really get people excited with some gussying up. A bunch of people will dress it up as a sharp edge but … well … it is still a butter knife.

Part of the problem is that far too often businesses simply seek to ‘compete’ and not really hurt <if not kill> the competition. They are satisfied with standing toe to toe bludgeoning each other with dull a little rough around the edgerounded hammers … all the while suggesting that this is ‘smart fighting’ giving ‘us the edge’.

Shit.

‘Edges’ <in this case> seems to me like it is simply staying in the fight and not a plan to win a fight … unless you consider standing there for hours outlasting your competition as winning.

Edges, and I mean REAL edges, are all about winning. And by winning I mean your ‘edge’ makes someone, or someones, irrelevant <not just uncomfortable getting poked with whatever edge you have in hand>. To clarify. The majority of the time the edge you have assumed and wield doesn’t make everyone irrelevant … just some.

Anyway. One last thing about not having an edge. Unfortunately … Life and business will place you on the edge whether you like it or not.

Yeah. At some time and place, whether you have walked to the edge or the edge simply appeared where you were standing, you will find yourself on an edge. Some dance on the edge. And then there are those who don’t see the opportunity to dance. They only see that their feet stand on the icy brink of Death.  They only see uncertainty … and <possible> death if they slip.

I don’t understand those who do not dance on the edge when it appears.

Just as I don’t understand why someone doesn’t want an edge.

Just as I don’t understand why a business doesn’t want an edge.

To be clear. Sharp edges is not really “its okay to have 50% hate as long as 50% love.” Sharp edges create distinction … and distinction actually creates this type of mix:

 

25% love/like a lot.

25% are okay with you.

25% mildly dislike you.

25% hate.

 

That is how sharp edges typically cut. In my world that seems like a pretty awesome ratio — in business and in life.

——— Originally posted May 2016 ———-

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Written by Bruce