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 Strategies
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.
