Monday, June 25, 2007
The Image of Words
I work in a non-profit which connects self-employed contractors and businesses. We match services to needs. Where we are a bit different is that most of our contractors have some kind of health issue, whether or not they are currently experiencing active symptoms of that health problem. Some people suffer from the pain of arthritis or migraines, others are paraplegic. Scott even made it to a contract assignment once - we do take healthy people to. I'll let you decide what "side" he is on. By the way, we also take people with some mental health issues (read between the lines).
This concept, begun by an entrepeneur with vast experience in the disability services field, started as primarily a social enterprise aspect, as a support for those who had great skills and experience, and needed to tailor their work hours and environment. In its inception a tagline "A Solution for Everybody" was developed. This was considered to handle the description well. Reliable Business Outsourcing is a solution for the contractor, as it meets their need to increase their marketing potential and increase their flexibility in work choices. This is also a solution for the businesses, because they don't have to advertise for an employee, interview, train, and manage as many people. They get a contractor for a short term of time, to fill the work need.
I know this sounds like an ad. It actually isn't, so please be patient.
At a meeting recently, what came out loud and clear from the contractors is that man of them have made a business decision to become self-employed, and they want to be marketed based on their ability, not their disability. Well, that makes sense. We were already trying to do that, but we also included some information about being a not-for-profit social enterprise. As we talked with the group we realized that "A Solution for Everybody" was vague and could best be explained from the angle of disabilities. We came to the conclusion that the social enterprise nature of this agency is alive from within, and doesn't need to be displayed strongly to the businesses. So, someone pitched the idea of "Real People Doing Real Work".
Have you been part of a process where something morphs and you think you have the answer? We tabled the tagline, though we were excited about it, and I was wondering why we didn't adopt it right then.
Now we're voting on the tagline, and what sounded great in the meeting doesn't sound so great with a few weeks breather in between. In fact, it raises the question: "If these people are real, what are the rest of the people?" We understood its transition and definition, but really it still addressed disabilities. We felt it was a power statement as to ability, but it still pointed to the fact that somehow there needed to be a catchy way of differentiating these people, when in fact it is the skill we want to differentiate. We haven't chosen a new tagline yet, but this process reminds me of something else.
Words are strong. They invoke images, gruesome, beautiful, Godly, sinful. They heal lives and destroy others. Often our use of them is inadequate for what we want to convey, yet other times the sting of them is deadly. One thing is certain. A written or spoken word directed at someone takes effect in most cases. And especially true is when those words are used to slash and deliver revenge.
I know some of those kind of people, whether they want to be that way or not. But even more, I know encouragers. These people don't often understand the importance or ways of their words. They don't even have to say much. In fact, perhaps these are the people who don't speak a lot. They just speak hope.
When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. (Proverbs 19:19)
This concept, begun by an entrepeneur with vast experience in the disability services field, started as primarily a social enterprise aspect, as a support for those who had great skills and experience, and needed to tailor their work hours and environment. In its inception a tagline "A Solution for Everybody" was developed. This was considered to handle the description well. Reliable Business Outsourcing is a solution for the contractor, as it meets their need to increase their marketing potential and increase their flexibility in work choices. This is also a solution for the businesses, because they don't have to advertise for an employee, interview, train, and manage as many people. They get a contractor for a short term of time, to fill the work need.
I know this sounds like an ad. It actually isn't, so please be patient.
At a meeting recently, what came out loud and clear from the contractors is that man of them have made a business decision to become self-employed, and they want to be marketed based on their ability, not their disability. Well, that makes sense. We were already trying to do that, but we also included some information about being a not-for-profit social enterprise. As we talked with the group we realized that "A Solution for Everybody" was vague and could best be explained from the angle of disabilities. We came to the conclusion that the social enterprise nature of this agency is alive from within, and doesn't need to be displayed strongly to the businesses. So, someone pitched the idea of "Real People Doing Real Work".
Have you been part of a process where something morphs and you think you have the answer? We tabled the tagline, though we were excited about it, and I was wondering why we didn't adopt it right then.
Now we're voting on the tagline, and what sounded great in the meeting doesn't sound so great with a few weeks breather in between. In fact, it raises the question: "If these people are real, what are the rest of the people?" We understood its transition and definition, but really it still addressed disabilities. We felt it was a power statement as to ability, but it still pointed to the fact that somehow there needed to be a catchy way of differentiating these people, when in fact it is the skill we want to differentiate. We haven't chosen a new tagline yet, but this process reminds me of something else.
Words are strong. They invoke images, gruesome, beautiful, Godly, sinful. They heal lives and destroy others. Often our use of them is inadequate for what we want to convey, yet other times the sting of them is deadly. One thing is certain. A written or spoken word directed at someone takes effect in most cases. And especially true is when those words are used to slash and deliver revenge.
I know some of those kind of people, whether they want to be that way or not. But even more, I know encouragers. These people don't often understand the importance or ways of their words. They don't even have to say much. In fact, perhaps these are the people who don't speak a lot. They just speak hope.
When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. (Proverbs 19:19)
// posted by Annette @ 6:35 p.m. 