Do you remember the first time you ever heard that phrase? May have been after the first step you took, the first night you slept in a big boy/girl bed instead of a crib, that first perfect report card, passing your driver’s test. Good job!
Many of us carry that feeling of accomplishment throughout our lives, whether we were ever lucky enough to hear those words or not. It wasn’t automatic, though, as our emotional growth still whispers, “I can’t, I don’t want to, well, I’ll try”. These days, we try not to allow ourselves to say “can’t”, and we complete many daily chores that we don’t want to do. We elect to retain that good job voice echoing in our heads.
I’ve read a little John Sommers-Flanagan (Doctor of Psychology,1986, Professor of Counselor Education at the University of Montana) who recently quoted Alfred Adler, a contemporary of Freud. He offers a quote (below) from Adler and describes him as perpetually seeing the glass as half full. He described The Psychology of Doing Good as Gemeinschaftsgefühl. “This roughly means social interest or community feeling. Carlson and Englar-Carlson (2017) provided the meaning of this uniquely Adlerian concept.”
“Gemein” is a community of equals, “shafts” means to create or maintain, and “Gefühl” is social feeling. Taken together, Gemeinschaftsgefühl means a community of equals creating and maintaining social feelings and interests; that is, people working together as equals to better themselves as individuals and as a community.” (p. 43)
The coolest thing about Gemeinschaftsgefühl is that it’s all natural. We are pulled toward social interest and community feeling. In fact, there’s no other good explanation for why so many people around the world reach out to help their neighbors, friends, family, and strangers—without expecting anything in return.” I happen to believe it, and that it started with that first step or night out of our crib.
The business application of Gemeinschaftsgefühl is a primary reason ACUMEN is celebrating its 28th year of successful ERP implementations. Our teams have it, and the need to pursue it. Good job.
I used the word “many” to open the second paragraph, as we know that everyone doesn’t carry a do-good sentiment through into their professional lives. That is evident as ACUMEN has been the recipient of many successful clients over the years, who had worked with not-so-motivated software and implementation vendors previously. As a matter of fact, ACUMEN Corporation was featured in one of Richmond’s finest business publications, Enterprise Virginia, for “rescuing” failed implementations. Here’s a statement I made during an October 1999 interview for the magazine:
“We get the best performance possible from the tools they [our clients] may currently be using and select or assist in the selection of vendors, equipment and other tools with track records of performance success. We know the objective for today’s business is synchronized deployment of technology …harmonious performance…enhanced profitability.”
“We are reclaiming revenues and taking back a piece of the [our clients’] marketplace. The power of the marketplace can be attained with fine-tuning and sharp management of resources. A lot of what we do is to fine tune what you already know.”
We’re still doing that, and our goals for our clients have not changed. We also now represent the number one business application software in the world, SAP Business One, as we know what works. That’s icing on the cake. Good job! Job well done! Gemeinschaftsgefühl. That’s ACUMEN.
Send us a note at letstalk@ACUMENcorp.com and let us know how we can help you take back your marketplace, and visit us at www.ACUMENcorp.com for more information.
