I never learned in business school or in any career position that positive cashflow has a downside.
It does.
Positive cashflow masks duplicity in our personal and business lives.
When the cash register’s ringing, people just can’t be nice and accommodating enough to each other. They are team players all.
But, watch all that goodwill and team spirit vanish during bad economic times, when cashflow goes flat or negative — and people display their real feelings, motives, and behaviors.
Divorces rise and golddiggers flee during recessions. All that talk about love? Oh, that. It’s love of cashflow.
When the crunch is on, customers, suppliers, and business partners hoard, divert, lie, double-talk, and cheat to avoid their commitments. What happened to Stephen Covey’s win-win? Valid only with positive cashflow.
Getting Real
Positive cashflow seduces us to overestimate people. Ironically, this is when we should be the most skeptical about them.
Accordingly, the best time to gauge the true motives and behaviors of potential partners is during a recession, when they — and you — are stressed out, struggling, and, therefore, the most honest.
It’s easy to be wonderful and magnanimous when the Dow is going through the roof — not so much when it’s tanking. And, that’s the point.
The relationships you cement during bad times, in your business and personal lives, have the lowest probabilities of cracking.
So, what are you waiting for, better times?
© 2009 Marc H. Rudov. All Rights Reserved.
About the Author
Marc Rudov is a branding advisor to CEOs,
producer of MarcRudovTV, and author of four books