Recently I read a piece by Tara Hunt, talking about how she was warned while in preparation for her TEDx presentation that some presenters might be a hard act to follow. She delved into how she’d decided to toss aside this fear, in favor of being that tough act to follow. Being the one to set the bar high. Being the one to not concern herself with how she compared to others.
It got me thinking. How do green companies suffer from this comparison paralysis?
Is it time for us to stop thinking of ourselves as creators of an alternative to the mainstream option, and decide, or in many cases recognize that we are the mainstream option? And if not, just set down that need to be validated by the popular kids on the block. Or better yet, quit being resentful of others not changing as fast as you’d want, and do it yourself!
For so long, green businesses have defined themselves using the status quo, big name options as a barometer of how valid they were. Or perhaps they've identified themselves by how in opposition they were to that supposedly big bad company.
People, stop. It’s a waste of your time. And time to forge your own road, focusing on your product being a superior experience, giving superior results, delighting in unexpected ways, as compared to any product or service in the neighborhood of what your creating.
It’s time to kick ass, and make money. While making a positive impact. And if you are, be that shining example to others, that it’s ok to succeed, on a big scale, with integrity. In fact I’m saying it here: If you’re playing small and think it's somehow more noble to be so, you’re not serious about making a meaningful impact. Drop the old stories, and write a new one.
What’s your take on this? Are you ready? Are you doing it now?
Paul Smith is a sustainable business innovator, the founder of GreenSmith Consulting, blogs weekly on green start ups of note at Triple Pundit and has an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. He creates interest in, conversations about, and business for green (and greening) companies, via social media marketing.
