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.

What is your greatest talent?

Everyone pauses when I ask this question. Um ah let me think about it… but the fact is we all have talents, and for the most part we know exactly what they are, we just don’t feel it is “proper” for us to promote our own strengths. But face it, if you don’t then who will? Trust yourself, first.

One of my greatest talents, gifted of God, has always been my ability for learning. I learn quickly and either pick things up or I understand what I am not interested in or good at. I like to learn my weaknesses. I question, I learn, I adapt.

Vanity is a weakness, so I’ll rephrase the question

What do you think is one of your strengths?

Strong is good, strengths we are allowed. At this point most people will admit to having at least one thing that they consider themselves to be good at.

Personally, I consider one of my strengths my ability to fall and get back up again. I have fallen hundreds and hundreds of times – off horses, downstairs and into the the path of moving vehicles. I’ve fallen out of favour, over myself, into people, plants and precarious places.

Hands up if you saw me fall and destroy the deck chair at Jamie’s BBQ and thought it was hilarious. While not exactly helpful I assure you it has the potential to entertain.

And for those still struggling to verbalise an answer in regard to talent or strength then how about this question…

What do you like to do?

Usually your talents, your strengths, are integral to activities that you enjoy doing, be it talking or listening, growing or gathering, building vs demolishing.

I love the outdoors and it makes a whole lot of sense that the time I already spend running or walking could be shared with others .  I love animals too so I’m happy to offer time to exercise people’s dogs.

Our is not to judge the talents we are given, our responsibility is to use them and what better way than by helping others?

Exchanging Talent & Time?

Time is one of the most precious resources we have. It is the great equaliser. In a world with an ever widening rift between rich and poor, the freedom and / or limits of time (depending on your view) remain common to us all. Seven days, 24 hours, 60 minutes.

Yet all to often we overlook the true value of our time. Contrary to our hopes, sometimes the more we try to do the less time we seem to find. Yet, when we take time to enjoy the here and now you often find that the more you value time for its own sake the more time you will have.

The point is simply that doing the things that you love, which often involve your strengths or your talents, is the best way to use your time.

What’s more there are people in our communities that need your talent. A helping hand a listening ear and open mind might make all the difference to someone else.  The question now is – how do you choose to value your time?

When time is not money what value can it be given?

A: An Hour

Time Trade is simply the idea of spending one hour using your talents to help others in your community. In exchange for one hour of your time and talent you receive an one hour time credit from the person you have helped, which you can then gift or exchange with other people for their time and talent.

What would you trade your talent and time to learn?

Helping other people, is a good thing. It makes us feel like contributing members of our society. That “good deed” warm glow comes from the knowledge that we have time and talents to offer others. This feeling is called being empowered.

To empower others requires recognition that despite our own talents and strengths, we too, need help from other people but while we all feel the need to “help others”  it is not always easy express when “I need help”.

If I could request time to trade I would like to learn to speak Maori.  I can’t surf to save myself so I’d love some lessons, I’d love to get out kitesurfing and  I’d also like to learn spanish. I have tried to learn by myself but it’s not working.

If you have the talent and time to help others please register to create your talent profile today.

How to Help Others

If asked “what did you want to be when you were a kid?”, I know the answer is – to help people. While I’m not alone in aspiring to help others am I just trying to compensate for my failings? or feel better about myself? Am I really just trying to help myself?

With time trade one’s own motivation to help others comes second. It’s about putting the needs of others before yourself by focusing less on the need to be needed – who can I help?, how can I help? – and more on outcomes that can only be secured by enlisting the time and talents of those we are trying to help – how can this persons talents, skills and time help others?

“…If we want to fulfill our own commitments to make a difference in the lives of others, we need to find a way to use our ability to unleash the capacity of the person we are helping…” Edgar Cahn

People are Assets

Every single person is gifted with talents that are of value in a Time Trade community.

“…it recognises the whole person, that your life experiences, your knowledge, is an asset – everything you are, what you know and what you don’t is valuable…”

For organisations with networks of people that they already help there’s the potential to vastly expand the work accomplished by employing the time and talents of the people they help. This in turn empowers the recipients and moves them away from dependence and potential helplessness towards a sense of contributing value to one’s own community.

For example enlisting university alumni to mentor upcoming graduates about work life and career paths and those graduates, in turn, tutoring fellow students who in turn help volunteer in their community, and build valuable work skills.

“…We have to find news ways, or very old ways, of putting people to use doing things for each other…finding ways for people who don’t think they have skills to discover their own strengths…” Edgar Cahn

Time Trade is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community.

In recognition for your contribution you receive one Time Credit which you can then gift or trade, with other members of the community, in exchange for their talent and time. It’s a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections.

Here at Worknow we are building an online system to automate the transfer of time credits between Community Members. Our Time Trade system comes online August 2009 please register your interest today.

Redefining the Value of Work

One of the most valuable life lessons learned while building this company is that “…money does not define the limits of what is possible…”

I would not be here today if I’d let a complete lack of funds prevent me from pursuing our vision of this new venture. Or if I feared the stigma of being “unemployed”. By choosing to build my future using the only resources that are truly mine – my time and talents – in collaboration with others, I’ve discovered the freedom to follow my dreams and trust my intuitions. While I may be poor in terms of money I’m undeniably blessed and rich in the things that money can not buy; love, happiness, hope…

Our company, Jamie Josh and I, are living proof of what can be accomplished when people are willing to invest time and talent in lieu of earnings. We hope time trade and the use of time credits will help us all to redefine the value of work to include some of the values that define us as humans; our capacity to love and care for other people, animals and our environment. To share knowledge, collaborate and stand up for the things we believe in.

Every time we reward an act of helping with a time credit, we are declaring that the monetary economy does not have the power to define what real work is, that market price is not the only measure of value and that money does not define the limits of what is possible. Edgar Khan in The Time of Our Lives

I’m inspired by thought leaders like Edgar Cahn because here at Worknow we break from the definition of work as either “employed or unemployed” choosing instead the role of aspiring, social entrepreneur and incorporating the idea of time trade – into a company built to help people find and connect with work – so as to give equal value to both volunteer and paid work opportunities.

We hope that our intention will become more evident when we launch the beta site because Jamie’s created some funky elements, in the navigation and site design, to allow people to easily switch and identify between time trade and paid work options. They are after all two sides of the same coin because as my father used to say “…there’s more than one way to skin a rabbit…”