Huge +1 to everything Chad-said. People are used to coming from work environments where everything is scarce. I don't fault them for expecting those defaults to carry over into the rest of the world...except they aren't defaults at all, they're cultural choices. We just choose differently, and reap the benefits.
I don't think there's any way to "convince" someone to go from scarcity mindset to abundance mindset, besides seeing other people succeed *and then* trying it for themselves. That's key to however you go about communicating this. Recently a wedding planner wanted exclusive rights to run weddings in our > space. We reluctantly agreed to it for a limited period but it felt wrong > st the start and as the months went on it was worse and worse - she put out > badly written brochures , she had loads of demands ... we had to set up a > really complicated and draconian contract to work wjrh her envisaging the > worst case situations etc ... anyway now she has pulled out due to ill > health and we are telling ourselves to go with our gut in future . Now you've seen this first hand - you aren't going to magically change someone's outlook by saying "yes" to everything they want. The trouble is, "no" is opaque. "Gut instinct" is opaque. What you're really saying is "no, not that way" but at the same time, leaving an opportunity on the table to show someone how it could be. I think that a lot of times we don't say no because we're afraid to close the door on somebody...and we wouldn't want the door closed on us, right? But there's that scarcity mindset again, creeping in. My approach is always to avoid saying "no," by instead saying "here's what it'd take to be a yes." Instead of making it a personal "I don't want you to do XYZ" it's more of a "here are some of *our* fundamentals. let's talk about how you might be able to adapt your thing to meet our fundamentals." Then, it becomes *their choice* to step up to your fundamentals...or not. And no hard feelings if they don't, that's just not what you do! We use this approach for a LOT of things we don't do but people assume we do...private offices, event space rental, conference room rental...99x out of 100, we're met with "oh, that's cool that you do it that way, I never thought about that! Maybe this is a better fit for another thing I'm working on...or someone else's thing that I know about." And we've gone so far as to write down those fundamentals right on our website <http://www.indyhall.org/purpose>. Our top priorities, as well as the things we *don't* do because we know that it will undermine the work we've all put in to make this whole thing worth being a part of. It makes everything so much easier and fun, and it makes the entire experience more valuable for the people who *do choose to be a part of it* because they know exactly what they signed up for, and they see you stand by it every day. Stay the course. Your instincts are good. You just need to practice saying them out loud. -Alex ------------------ *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.* Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 8:37 AM, Chad Ballantyne <c...@thecreativespace.ca> wrote: > Co-opetition. Embrace it. > All our so-called competitive companies in our space have grown due, in > part, to getting over the fear of competition and embracing the impactful > strategy of co-opetition. > If coworking was just about providing a desk or private office for that > one company to do it’s own thing, then this scenario would be an issue. > But coworking is about trust, openness, sharing, collaboration, > selflessness, etc. In that environment EVERYONE is safe as well as > empowered, inspired and cheered on by what would be called in other places, > competition. > The idea of coworking with those in your industry has also honed all our > companies to do what they do best. We talk to our so-called competitors > and always find something that they do amazing, that we do mediocre. Now we > have a partner. > > Feeling threatened is different than feeling afraid. When ever I hear > someone talk about an industry being “cut-throat” I sigh and say, "so > what!” The question back to the owner is, “is that your MO?” If it isn’t, > than carry on and consider how this new company could help you and you, > them. If a competitive company does better than you in the exact same > market and location, that’s your problem, not there’s. There’s plenty of > work out there. Hustle for it, but don’t spend too much time guarding, > spying and feeling threatened. > > This principle is part of our initial tour discussion. We not only talk > about it, we celebrate it! Once it’s part of your ethos, your future > members will not be afraid of competitive companies, rather will be the > first one to shake take their hand and buy them a coffee. > > Peace, > > > Chad Ballantyne > 705.812.0689 <(705)%20812-0689> > c...@thecreativespace.ca > > > > > > > Barrie's Coworking Community > Perfect for small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs. > 12 Dunlop St E, Barrie Ontario, L4M 1A3 > Memberships start at $25/mth > www.thecreativespace.ca > 705-812-0689 > > On Jan 6, 2017, at 12:35 AM, Fiona Frank <fionafr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > We've been running for 3 years as a non profit Coworking and event space > in a small village in north west England. We have a shared Coworking space > wjrh 9 desks, and offices, studios and workshops most of which are leased > and then shared too. > > We have an interesting and surprisingly completely new situation where a > wedding and lifestyle photographer is objecting / very worried about the > possibility of another wedding photographer coming into the space and > setting up an office in a shared space next door. > > We run as a cooperative and encourage members to discuss issues like this > but wonder if other spaces have come across this. My ohotographer says it's > a cut throat business a s he would feel threatened .... > > What experience do other Coworking spaces have of this issue and what's > the answer ? We have always had a gut policy or not encouraging exclusivity > . Recently a wedding planner wanted exclusive rights to run weddings in our > space. We reluctantly agreed to it for a limited period but it felt wrong > st the start and as the months went on it was worse and worse - she put out > badly written brochures , she had loads of demands ... we had to set up a > really complicated and draconian contract to work wjrh her envisaging the > worst case situations etc ... anyway now she has pulled out due to ill > health and we are telling ourselves to go with our gut in future . > > So we know that exclusivity is wrong. But we don't want to upset our > existing workshop renter - while not wanting to limit who comes and takes > empty space . > > Help!!! > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
