History has its place in any business

Against the odds she survived and was released to find that her husband had perished during the war.
As was the case with many after the war, she sought a new life in Africa. She met a rather dashing young Polish man in Kenya, remarried and they relocated to the southern part of Africa where he began a business.
They stayed and made Zimbabwe their home. I met them a few years ago, both well into their eighties and facing the turmoil of inflation and dollarisation.
They carried themselves in a manner that is rare these days. Their devotion to each other was exceptional, they were still hopelessly in love.
Their manners are impeccable, the husband would phone up to thank her for her assistance on a project with the gratitude clearly evident in his voice.
They became firm favourites at the office and developed a healthy relationship with the staff over the last few years.
Last month, they passed away within three days of one another. A fitting end perhaps to a life of over 50 years together.
Why am I telling you this? What is its relationship to business, you may be asking?
Some stories are worth telling, and should not be allowed to disappear into oblivion and ignominy.
Theirs was a tale rich in history, and in terms of lessons in how to survive hardship was unrivalled.
It was a story that needed to be told. Your tale should be the same. The story of your business needs to be remembered, recorded and learnt from.
Do you remember how you scraped together the money to start up your first project, walking into town because it saved you an extra dollar rather than catch a kombi?
What about that first investor pitch that you thought you blew, but in fact they loved it and brought into it against the odds?
Those are stories worth telling, because somewhere in there are principles to be learnt from. So how do you tell your story?
The first point is not to just to look at the past, but to look to the future as well.
Telling your story properly involves looking at the past, examining your present and deciding how you would like the tale to end. Keep that in mind as you go over your past.
Too many people get stuck in the past, trying to live in how it was “back then”.
Looking at your past must not become an excuse to avoid progress. It should be a platform to propel you to the future. Zimbabwe’s economy has been through hell. It would be foolish to look back at business in the early nineties and try recapture that as a business model today. Some of the basic principles may be the same but we live in a different world now, business will naturally be different (at a very basic level communication has significantly changed since then).
Tell the good and the bad.
“History is written by the victors” and often times it involves telling only one side of the tale.
You need to remember the failures as well as the successes, you just don’t dwell on them for long.
Failures serve as a learning point not a pity party. People need to avoid the same mistake in the future, so you better remember your lessons well.
Write it down. Writing does two things, it makes you think about things a little more and it enables others to read what is written.
Make capturing of history part of the culture at your office. Take photos of major occasions, video events.
Keep newspaper cuttings about you. Make sure someone has a record of your various advertising campaigns. History becomes tangible when you do this.
Often you determine where the story goes. There are a few cartoons where the cartoon character has an argument with the writer, complaining that he keeps putting him in hopeless situations or not giving him enough money.
The only person to blame in your “rage against the author” is you. You are responsible for looking ahead and determining the style of business and quality of life you want.
You are the one who decides on the path that you want your business to take. Part of your story involves looking ahead and seeing where you want to go.
Decide how you want that last chapter to read before you type out the ubiquitous.