Worknow_Aotearoa_NZ

Sailing is an investment of time that I consider a rather noble pursuit but then I am biased because my dad was an avid sailor -  John Lee, Skipper of the Leeway – and he was easily one of the hero’s of my life.

leeway: To slip sideways downwind while moving forward.

Yet this adds weight to the fact that I’ve heard several people talking about sailing this year, from simply learning how to sail to planned journeys around the world.

And it is their sense of purposeful adventure and discovery that has inspired my thoughts on the direction of my personal endeavors as well as our company this year.

Time to change tack

I resolved earlier this year to keep a written journal, a common device of those sailing the oceans.  Indeed, I much prefer the creative process of writing ones thoughts vs blogging and I struggled immensely over the past week to find the inspiration to add value to our blog conversation so far.

Beside commenting on articles that inspire conversation or challenge my thinking it seems 2009 provided all the time needed to convey our vision, values and service. Upon reflection I realise that I have said all I need to say about Worknow and it is simply time to change tack.

Tacking – Basic sailing maneuver refers to turning the bow of the boat through the wind so that the wind changes from one side of the boat to the other side.

While we maintain our heading, we now power up the sails with the stories of those with whom we collaborate and whose bearing impacts on the work that we do.

Indeed, it is only through the collaboration and support of people, with the vision and creativity to apply Time Trade as a tool to encourage volunteering in their own community, can we hope to reach our way-points.

Ready About

I hope to increasingly use this blog to share the story of those that serve our communities in the most direct sense of the word. I hope, like me, you will find their stories inspiring and thought provoking.

Most importantly I hope to convey the conscious, collective community spirit under which these people and teams operate in order to inspire and encourage us all  to volunteer our time and talent on a regular and ongoing basis.

Using the simple tools now at your fingertips just imagine what we can achieve, what change we can effect and the difference we will make when we work now, together for causes that benefit us all.

Building relationships with talented, passionate people is one of the most inspiring parts of my startup journey

Meeting talking and learning from others, whether supported and applauded or challenged and questioned is integral to achieving our vision to become a world class business that helps people and affects change.

Each and every person I find, connect and work with adds value to our idea, creating avenues from which to discover and explore new opportunities and challenge our thinking.

I am especially thankful for my two co founders, Jamie & Josh, without whom I would not be in a position to be pursuing a vision I am truly passionate about. And stoked on pursuing the path of entrepreneur alongside other talented people from both The Distiller and AIESEC communities.

The entrepreneurial mindset is surround yourself with great people

Worknow is a community and marketplace to help people find, connect and work together. Register with our talent community today to connect and collaborate with other inspiring, talented people .

It seems that deriding Gen Y has become a marketing tool in itself. Repeat something negative about Gen Y and you’ve instantly attracted an audience.

Some readers will flock in order to have their personal points of view validated. But how many more will read because we’ve learned the importance of “…know thy enemy…”

Everyday we learn more about why the entrenched workforce fears us but more importantly the negativity provides us a challenge to rise to.

It seems, my entire generation now has a point to prove and the best way I can see to do that is to overcome the negativity, choose life and community over career, step around the square box and do exactly what we are disliked for.

Be different, challenge the status quo and find better new ways to get work done.

Although people continue to highlight our flaws a growing number of people are beginning to realise that these traits which appear as weaknesses may indeed be indicators of our strengths.

As one onlooker notes:-

“It is quite likely that some sizable percentage of these [Gen Y] workers will never work in a steady job on the payroll of a single employer. And an equally large segment may never know a career different from that of a ‘permanent part-timer,’ contractor, or consultant.”

Gen Y’s fierce independence will accelerate the nation’s evolution from a corporate economy of worker bees to an entrepreneurial one of innovative thinkers and rapid change, one where a majority of the Gen Y workforce is self-employed or even part of an ever-widening proprietary class.

The Gen Y group will be fiercely start-up oriented, and “by 2013, perhaps two- thirds of all adult Americans will be classified as entrepreneurial.” Source

Gen Y Entrepreneurs

So while this article talks of our US counterparts perhaps we should take note. More than any previous generation Gen Y has a more flexible and entrepreneurial approach to work.

Our entrepreneurial spirit makes us increasingly willing and able to take risks, our education has armed us with knowledge and insight and today’s technology allows us to connect, share and collaborate in new, more effective ways.

The traditional dependency on employment has begun to weaken as more and more of us recognise the potential we have to connect with others in order to create our own forms of work.

While our entrepreneurial and flexible approach to work demands of us greater self-reliance in return we capture the ability to shape our own future rather than “comply” or “conform” to the expectations of a workforce that often fails to utilise our talent or understand our work ethic.

Worknow

At Worknow we support a more entrepreneurial work ethic and are developing tools to help people find, connect and work together in new ways