This is a post I entered into a blogging competition on St Patrick’s Day. http://www.bloggertone.com Now that the competition is over and the time delay for posting on my own blog are over you can read it here:
Forty Shades of Green
Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle, where there are forty shades of green. With the week that’s in it and St Patrick’s Day being celebrated the world over the focus is on us this week. I got to thinking, which shade of green is your attitude to your business? I’m not going to go through all forty, just a few. Read on and see if you recognise your business, someone else’s in here or even an institution or two.
Ivy Green:
That bright over-shiny-green that looks like it’s on it’s plastic. Don’t be fooled by this green. It’s got tendrils that bury deep into the foundations of society and don’t let go. Despite some pruning and cutting away of old branches this tenacious green will flourish again.
Bilous green.
This green is to coin a phrase: as sick as a parrot! It’s over-indulged in the good times and gluttony and short-sightedness has turned it from a fat-cat to a seriously worried scarecrow. It’s main worry is how it is going to manage to retreive the lifestyle it had for the last ten years without having to curb its bad habits.
Khaki green:
This green is a meticilious planner. It trives in times of conflict. It can go in size up a situation, devise a plan of action and impliment it, and quickly. It is also a forward planner and has an exit strategy for nearly every situation and can handle change well. Needless to say khaki green is more than a survivor, it’s a thriver.
New Shoots green.
This green is only starting out and is pushing up new shoots cautiously to the sun. The ground was ploughed, seeds planted, watered and maintained. Now it’s time to nuture these new shoots until they develop some strength to be able to bend with the wind instead of breaking.
Eco green.
This green has an environmental conscience. The whole idea of this green is to ensure the ecological future of the planet while growing a sustainable business in the process.
Other side green.
This green spends as much time worrying about what the competition is doing as it does on surviving in the world of business. They always feel that everyone else is doing a better job, getting better return on investment than them, with the result that they don’t put as much care as they could into just being their best themselves.
Leprachaun green.
Like all pixies, fairies and imps, this green is a trickster and their aim is to take your money and run. This green will promise you what you want, take your deposit and disappear into thin air. The worst thing about this green is they will catch you when your guard is down, so beware.
Cabbage green:
This green is really wet behind the ears. The phrase: “your as green as you are cabbage looking” really does apply here. They don’t know where to start and need taking by the hand and shown the basic steps before being allowed loose in business.
Sea green:
This green has weathered a few storms, has quite possibly had to dock for repairs a few times, but like and good sea-farer has gone back out with new provision, repairs carried out and new optomism. This old sea-dog doesn’t quit, it heads straight for the swells to dive straight in and ride the crest of the wave.