Make It Take It Break It

When analyzing the generational transfer of "ideas-concieved",  "plans-initiated", "significant-accomplishments" and "success-manifest" there is a rather predictable transfer of "It."  This is as true in business and organizations as it is in families.

The first generation in this saga has great original ideas and endeavors to work a plan and modify the plan as circumstances and discoveries dictate in order to make "It" work. This generation views success through the lens of how the idea can be integrated into a working model achieving the desired outcome. They are moved to action and don't allow failures, of which there are likely many, to get in the way. These hearty individuals are fully committed to "The Idea". The monetary success and recognition are quiet often the result and not the sole motivation. They Make "It!"

The second generation assumes the success of the momentum created by the first generation and become caretakers, often not willing to risk the status quo. They keep doing things the way they observed the first generation doing them and do not consider that what they are actually witnessing is the cumulative result of ups and downs. Their journey is considerably less challenging and this can result in a lack of innovation and desire to improve. Their rewards are those they inherited with a minimum of effort and therefore they gradually become adverse to breaking a sweat. The inherited success becomes less stable because their thinking is not as passionate or as focused the thinking was with the first generation. They Take "It!"

The third generation ambles onto the scene having never been in a position of making things happen. They don't value the "how" as much as they value the "what". What they are getting is far more interesting than how they got it. When there is a bit of rough water in the inherited successes, they have no idea how to respond. Things not only don't grow, they begin to erode. The slide continues day by day and when they look up, they find themselves so far from where they need to be that irrational behavior takes over and they begin to jump from bad idea to bad idea. They Break "It!"

Wherever you are in your professional pursuit take time to consider the others that have come before you and how they overcame, through persistence and hard work and by making not only smart choices but hard decisions. You can take credit for your accomplishments and be proud of the things you achieved. But don't get so wrapped up in basking in your glory that you lose sight of the glorious things that happened long before you arrived on the scene. Make "It" better, don't Take "It" for granted or Break  "It" to pieces.