Happy holiday wishes

I write this on Christmas Eve.  Night fell early again, this close to winter solstice, closing up a very short afternoon.  Now I’m surrounded by family and friends.  Adults have eased into after-dinner conversation.  The children are insanely eager for Christmas, and want to somehow just power through the night into morning by sheer willpower.  All of this casts me in a reflective mood.

It’s been a wild year, for myself and for my family.  Starting up a business and seeing it into profitability has been… well, the cliché is “intense”, but that really is the right word.  My wife and I have rapidly schooled ourselves on startup basics, tax policy, insurance (during this, of all years!), accounting, business models, design, and strategy.  We launched a variety of services: consulting, speaking engagements, a monthly newsletter.  We built and implemented a plan.  And it’s working.

What strikes me most about this process at year’s end is how networked it has been.  The business is, at its heart, a complex of relationships.  Clients, vendors, fellow researchers, allies, advisers, and friends: that’s the architecture and essence of my work.  While I work full tilt, sometimes alone on planes or at the keyboard… it’s an illusion.  Everything depends on these personal connections, these networks of attention, intention, and support.

Which is why I’m reminded of this during a holiday night, when the year starts to wrap up and everything is happening in a whorl of relationships.  The children demand another mad game of Monster, grownups want to talk, and the car deeply requests my attention, so I’ll end this sentimental post with this: thank you, blog readers and friends, for all of your help.  Your time, your thoughts, your words, your care have meant the world to me.

All best holiday and new year’s wishes!