Pragmatic? Practical? Small Business Success Is Not About Either
Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m practical.” Or, they say, “I’m pragmatic.” They both sound good. A practical person does sensible things within a set of moral values. A pragmatic person does whatever makes sense at the time.
In today’s world the line gets blurred between the two. For this post I am going to put them together although there are differences.
Be very careful when you hear someone say they are pragmatic or practical. What they may be saying is that they will do whatever they think is right. And what they think is right can change from one day to the next.
To have successful small business growth you must have a strong moral philosophy. You must know what is right and what is wrong. Pragmatism and practicality, more often than not, are about a “me first” philosophy.
For example, a business owner takes steps to make his business successful and then changes his mind. When asked about changing his mind he may say, ” I was just being practical.” Or, he could say he was being pragmatic. Of course his change of mind disrupted the lives of people. But hey, he was just being practical or pragmatic. In his mind, what’s the big deal?
Here’s the big deal. People are counting on him keeping his word. Yet, what he promises doesn’t happen. The reason for not doing what he said he was going to do may be, “I changed my mind.” If this happens regularly this is a problem.
“Changing one’s mind” regularly is not good. Very often you will hear along with “changing my mind” that “I was just being practical”, or “I am being pragmatic.” And you are supposed to accept that as a legitimate excuse.
If you hear these phrases too often from people it is a warning sign. It is a warning sign that they have no coherent philosophy to guide them. Their philosophy and how they are going to act is, more often than not, subject to change. Changing philosophy is not a foundation when building the steps to business success.
The pragmatist or practical person is always changing their philosophy because they are more concerned about what is right for them at the moment than adhering to any principles. The only principle they adhere to is what is in their best interests. Self-centeredness, more often than not, is their philosophy.
Here’s what’s dangerous. They cannot be trusted. Business success and life is all about them. One day you may feel close to them. And, the next day you may feel as if they deserted you.
You will find that most successful people make their decisions very quickly and change them very slowly. They have a philosophy of right, wrong and good human relations that is bigger than them.
Tags: business owner, entrepreneur, practical, pragmatic, small business success, steps to business, successful small business