Collaboration in India — Ashram 2016
A week of generosity, with each sunrise bringing a new day of connection, collaboration and inspiration.
Ashram 2016 brought together a group of awesome people, in a beautiful county. It provided a space for people to share ideas. A place where we could help each other to maximise our impact - pushing the boat out on building purposeful business.
But let’s back up abit. Ashram wasn’t my first Happy Startup School event. For a while now these guys have helped guide me in my journey from 16 years in the Royal Air Force, to starting and building a business with purpose.
It was a challenge entering the start-up world, a place I knew little about. What I did know was that I wanted to create a profitable business (we’ve all got bills to pay), but I also knew that at the same time, I wanted to help make a positive impact to the place where I live.
I stumbled across the Happy Startup Home School program. This was just what I needed to help provide me with a structure to take my ideas forward.
As part of my reading on creating a new start-up I came across an article on start-ups in the craft beer industry. A quote caught my eye that I tweeted to The Happy Startup School:
“Not being an asshole is good for business”
To which they replied….
“that’s quite a low benchmark”
Ha ha! Indeed it is. And when it comes to benchmarking The Happy Startup School events, these dudes are off the scale. Ashram 2016 was no different.
Based between Chennai and Pondicherry, on the East coast of India, we embarked on a week without an agenda. We shared stories, held pop-up workshops, danced bollywood style and enjoyed delicious food.
Apu’s breathtaking story of his part in the quest to stop an Indian cotton farmer committing suicide every 30 minutes was something else. Feeling emotional just thinking about it, I’m relieved that I’ll be able to continue to support the cause in a small way by buying cool clothes from the No Nasties brand (they ship worldwide).
As well as sharing stories and challenges, people also shared insights into the ways and means in which they’re extending the impact of their own businesses.
What struck me most was learning from those who were working away building their own communities. Really smart people like Stephanie at Helpings, Jo from Make Do Co, Meredith with Food at Heart and Dipna at Love The World Today. Their commitment and dedication to creating something special is inspiring.
But it wasn’t just learning from those who were already on the community building journey. Seeing Dawn’s passion for providing creative opportunities for her children, and translating this into the launch of a new Dream Explorers movement during the Ashram week, proved to be pretty motivating too.
It was toward the end of the week that the craft beer industry drifted back into my thoughts. Although I’d shared the asshole quote, the article was really about collaboration in the craft brewing industry. It was about how new craft beer start-ups were supported by those who were more established. It was about sharing ideas, experiences and even resources. All of this was leading to increased impact, with craft beer taking chunks of market share from the ‘big beer’ brands.
It was this kind of collaboration that was happening at Ashram. Here there was a mixture of different businesses and ventures. People from different countries and backgrounds, ranging from highly successful CEOs to those still exploring what might be their future purposeful path. But what united the group was a generosity of spirit. A willingness to share ideas, to be open and honest and alive to opportunities for future collaboration.
“All of us are smarter than any of us”. Seth Godin
The bulb had been flickering for a while, but during Ashram the light came on. It’s time for me to focus properly on building my own community, increasing impact through collaboration. This is what I’m going to do:
Time for action
So inspired by my fellow Ashramers and armed with new ideas and smart ways of working, it’s time for me to crack on and take action. Here are 3 things at the top of my list:
- Reach out to more cycling people & places in London, share their story on CycleFox and help connect them with their own local communities.
- Provide a space for collaboration between those working on bicycle related projects across London, by hosting a series of open Ideas on a Bike events.
- Creating & share content that provides value and inspires more people to make cycling a bigger part of their daily lives.
Focusing on these things will help me deliver on my mission of helping more people enjoy the fun and freedom of cycling. I believe the bicycle has a big role to play in building happier, more vibrant and connected communities. There are many others in London who think the same. Through collaboration we’ll be able to maximise our impact, working together to help create happier places to live.
Thanks to Ashram for helping me switch the light on.
Maybe see you next time?
So if you get the opportuinty to be involved in a Happy Startup School event, don’t think about it too much, just do it!
If it’s anything like Alptitude or Ashram, it won’t just help make your business better, it will help make your life better.
Special thanks to Kumaran and Latha for their masterclass in hosting during our time in India.
If you’d like to find out more about the growing CycleFox community, visit www.cyclefox.com and join us.
