I've been thinking about outsourcing recently as my training company has started to grow. There are some major ethical and quality considerations for me in this area and I also need to do less myself in order not to go utterly crazy. While thinking about outsourcing it occurs to me that much of what I have learnt and now teach is almost the opposite - "withinsourcing " if you like. My NGO and martial arts background encourages me to make-do with what is available and dig deep to get things done. While taken to extremes this could be a recipe for stress and burn-out I am certainly not looking for a 4 minute work week either. So here is another way of looking at things...
Withinsourcing (not to be confused with insourcing) is drawing on one's own inner resources to get a job done. This includes
State Management (mindfulness, centring, etc)
- mange your primary "resource"
Intuition
- what does your gut say?
Integrity
- without a spine you are nothing
Adaptability and Creativity
- how can you make do?
Emotional Resilience
- can you bounce back?
Spirituality
- it's not really you that does the hard work anyway...dig deep.
To be clear - it's not that I'm anti outsourcing per se - I would like to do more of the things I'm good at and enjoy - it's just that I think the idea needs balancing - inner and outer.
